Professional Linux Kernel Architecture

Wolfgang Mauerer is a quantum physicist whose professional interests are centered around quantum cryptography, quantum electrodynamics, and compilers for - you guessed it - quantum architectures. With the confirmed capacity of being the worst experimentalist in the known universe, he sticks to the theoretical side of his profession, which is especially reassuring considering his constant fear of accidentally destroying the universe. Outside his research work, he is fascinated by operating systems, and for more than a decade - starting with an article series about the kernel in 1997 - he has found great pleasure in documenting and explaining Linux kernel internals. He is also the author of a book about typesetting with LaTeX and has written numerous articles that have been translated into seven languages in total. When he's not submerged in vast Hilbert spaces or large quantities of source code, he tries to take the opposite direction, namely, upward - be this with model planes, a paraglider, or on foot with an ice axe in his hands: Mountains especially have the power to outrival even the Linux kernel. Consequently, he considers planning and accomplishing a first-ascent expedition to the vast arctic glaciers of east Greenland to be the really unique achievement in his life. Being interested in everything that is fundamental, he is also the author of the first compiler for Plankalk ul, the world's earliest high-level language devised in 1942-1946 by Konrad Zuse, the father of the computer. As an avid reader, he is proud that despite the two-digit number of computers present in his living room, the volume required for books still occupies a larger share.

Introduction. Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview. Chapter 2: ProcessManagement and Scheduling. Chapter 3: Memory Management. Chapter 4: Virtual ProcessMemory. Chapter 5: Locking and Interprocess Communication. Chapter 6: Device Drivers. Chapter 7: Modules. Chapter 8: The Virtual Filesystem. Chapter 9: The Extended Filesystem Family. Chapter 10: Filesystems without Persistent Storage. Chapter 11: Extended Attributes and Access Control Lists. Chapter 12: Networks. Chapter 13: System Calls. Chapter 14: Kernel Activities. Chapter 15: Time management. Chapter 16: Page and Buffer Cache. Chapter 17: Data Synchronization. Chapter 18: Page Reclaim and Swapping. Chapter 19: Auditing. Appendix A: Architecture Specifics. Appendix B:Working with the Source Code. Appendix C: Notes on C. Appendix D: System Startup. Appendix E: The ELF Binary Format. Appendix F: The Kernel Development Process. Bibliography. Index.