Professional Linux Kernel Architecture (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) [Paperback]

Wolfgang Mauerer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470343435 | ISBN-13: 978-0470343432 | Publication Date: October 13, 2008 | Edition: 1

Find an introduction to the architecture, concepts and algorithms of the Linux kernel in Professional Linux Kernel Architecture, a guide to the kernel sources and large number of connections among subsystems. Find an introduction to the relevant structures and functions exported by the kernel to userland, understand the theoretical and conceptual aspects of the Linux kernel and Unix derivatives, and gain a deeper understanding of the kernel. Learn how to reduce the vast amount of information contained in the kernel sources and obtain the skills necessary to understand the kernel sources.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Professional Linux Kernel Architecture

As the Linux kernel constantly evolves, so must your understanding of the central functions of the kernel. Linux expert Wolfgang Mauerer focuses on version 2.6.24 (as well as summarizing changes to versions 2.6.25 and 2.6.26) of the kernel as he walks you through the concepts, underlying structures, and implementation of the Linux kernel. Keeping a close connection with the source code—as well as the components and subsystems of the kernel—this book reviews the VFS layer and discusses virtual filesystems and the Extended filesystem family and examines how the page and buffer cache speed up kernel operations.

You'll take a look at the peculiarities of various architectures supported by the kernel, explore the assorted tools and means of working efficiently with the kernel sources, and investigate the numerous social aspects of kernel development and the Linux kernel community. Ultimately, this insightful book will serve as an indispensable step towards understanding structure and implementation of the Linux kernel.

What you will learn from this book

• Various ways of viewing the kernel—as an enhanced machine, a resource manager, and a library

• How the kernel handles all time-related requirements, both with low and high resolution

• The mechanisms required to ensure proper operation of the kernel on multiprocessor systems

• How modules add new functionality to the kernel

• How the kernel deals with memory management, page reclaim, and swapping

• How the kernel deals with networks and implements TCP/IP

Who this book is for
This book is for system programmers, administrators, developers of Linux-based solutions, and overall Linux enthusiasts. A solid foundation of C programming is required.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

About the Author

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1368 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (October 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470343435
• ISBN-13: 978-0470343432
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #370,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great functional explanation on many kernel aspects, August 19, 2010

By 

filofel (-) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional Linux Kernel Architecture (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

I bought this book exactly one year ago, and I have used it for all that time. That's more than enough to make an opinion, and I consider Linux Kernel Architecture (LKA) a *very* valuable book, actually one of the most useful books about Linux Kernel that I own (and I think I have them all).
I use it this way: When looking for some aspect of the Linux kernel logic, I first go to LKA to see if the topic is addressed somewhere (the answer is most often "yes"). Then I read the relevant parts of LKA before I start to dive into the source code for more. What I get is a plain English, detailed, structured functional and technical explanation of the code I'm interested in, with diagrams and figures whenever it can help. The book mentions the path of the relevant source files, something that saves time, too.
In other words, I use it as a reference book, as a birds eye view into the kernel, but also as a functional explanation for a number of part of the code that are all but simple and obvious.

Now be warned: This is definitely not an introductory book for the beginner, nor a Linux kernel programming tutorial or techref manual, nor a book about device driver programming - even if it may help there. But all of those topics are addressed by other famous books such as Love's Linux Kernel Development 3rd Ed., Linux Device Drivers 3rd Ed, Essential Linux Device Drivers and a few others (I use all of those, too).
This is probably not either a book that you would read cover to cover.
It might not either always cover absolutely everything with all the details you might want (heck, it's only 1337 pages!)

But what LKA provides is a very well commented guide and roadmap into many aspects of the kernel, and one that is still recent enough to still be relevant. I just hope it will be regularly updated, and new editions republished.
In other words, LKA is a great time saver. I consider my time as valuable, and LKA has paid for itself manyfolds.

32 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overbearing and huge, December 8, 2008

By 

Federico Lucifredi "Bookworm" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional Linux Kernel Architecture (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

I picked up Mauerer's work on the bookish desire to keep my Kernel book library complete - and contrary to my hopes I was disappointed right from the introduction.

The book is 1337 pages long, which in itself is a negative and the leading reason for the low score - being clear (which the author is) should not come at the expense of being concise. All major areas of kernel architecture are covered, and the author often covers operating systems basics not found in such books, which partly explains (but hardly justifies) the bulk.

The kernel version covered in the book is 2.6.24, which is newer than that covered by Robert Love's book, which remains my recommendation regardless because of its pointedly zeroing in on the relevant bits, instead of exploring every single minutia along the way as Mauerer does here.

The book has merit for a bookworm such as myself, who will refer to it on a chapter basis, but is not the top choice for someone entering the subject anew.

For general use (i.e. where your bookshelf does not include every Linux kernel book ever published), Love's "Linux Kernel Development" (2nd ed) is a much better architectural introduction. If you miss operating system's basics, your first stop should be Tanenbaum's "Operating Systems Design and Implementation" (3rd ed) as well as his "Modern Operating Systems" (3rd ed) before you even think to start poking at the Linux kernel and get overwhelmed by the number of concepts you should have had previous familiarity with. Finally, if you are driven to the Linux kernel by device drivers, as is the most common case, Corbet, Rubini and Kroah-Hartman's "Linux Device Drivers" (3rd ed) definitely belongs on your shelf, although the very recent "Essential Linux Device Drivers" by Vekateswaran mounted the first credible threat to it in a decade, being both thorough and possibly tying Love for the spot as most enjoyable kernel book I have read to date - I would recommend a new device driver developer to go with both, possibly augmented by Love if more architectural knowledge is desired.

The bottom line is that this is a valiant effort, but that the author should have focused more. If you have the time to read thirteen-hundred pages, your time is better invested reading the titles above recommended, picking two or three depending on your exact focus in the subject - you will still be done faster than reading this one!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Linux review, August 3, 2009

By 

Vikram Pandita (TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional Linux Kernel Architecture (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

Would have preferred if there were a high level overview sections in each chapter.
and then the code details separate.

Each chapter does a smooth transition to low level details. A good read for deep dive into internals.
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