Windows NT Device Driver Development [Paperback]

Peter G. Viscarola (Author), W. Anthony Mason (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 1998 | Series: The Windows NT network architect & developer series

For courses in Windows NT Programming. Windows NT Device Driver Development is the definitive and comprehensive technical reference for students studying software engineering, systems programming, and any engineer who needs to understand Windows NT systems internals. Includes vital information about the internal design and architecture of the Windows NT operating system and critical information on the implementation of standard Windows NT kernel mode drivers. Students will get information on the workings of Windows NT I/O Manager, including how I/O requests are described and passed among drivers, and detailed technical information on interrupt management and synchronization issues.

Editorial Reviews

Review

When I first began making the transition from UNIX device drivers to those for Windows NT, there weren't a lot of available resources to help me along. However, things have changed over the past couple of years, and there is now plenty of information, including articles in Dr. Dobb's Journal and Microsoft Systems Journal, Paula Tomlinson's "Understanding NT" column in Windows Developer's Journal, Microsoft Developer Network, the Microsoft web site, and various other resources on the Internet. However, the place I recommend you start is with Windows NT Device Driver Development, by Peter G. Viscarola and W. Anthony Mason.

Windows NT Device Driver Development is a well-organized, easy to read, and complete introduction to NT device driver development. It could be read cover to cover as a student text. Because of its clean layout, the book is as valuable a reference as any of the resources listed above.

The book is authoritative, and the asides come from the (apparently extensive) personal experiences of the authors. They have recently been active and helpful on the mail lists described in the resources appendix. Windows NT Device Driver Development is also well edited. There are no major errors or omissions. The index is large and accurate. Index entries are purely topic and concept based. As a commitment to quality, the authors and the publisher have offered a bug bounty...Read more from this review.--Regan Russell, Dr. Dobb's Journal -- Dr. Dobb's Journal

From the Back Cover

Windows NT Device Driver Development is the definitive and comprehensive technical reference for software engineers, systems programmers, and any engineer who needs to understand Windows NT systems internals. You will learn: vital information about the internal design and architecture of the Windows NT operating system; Critical information on the implementation of standard Windwows NT kernel mode drivers; Key information on the workings of Windows NT I/O Manager, including how I/O requests are described and passed among drivers; and detailed technical information on interrupt management and synchronization issues.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 684 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press; 1st edition (November 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578700582
• ISBN-13: 978-1578700585
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,036,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate guide to NT device driver architechture., January 20, 1999

By 

Jeff Sidlosky ([e-mail]) (San Jose, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windows NT Device Driver Development (Paperback)

I'm a Windows 95 device driver engineer making my way into the NT world. After much frustration trying to learn the NT device driver architecture in any quick manner on my own, I decided it was time to buy a book.

The authors' explanations of the NT architecture are amazingly clear. Gradually each chapter builds on the previous unfolding the mysteries of NT. After each portion of information is presented to you, a real world example is shown, making confusion virtually impossible for the reader. I literally found myself asking a question then turning the page to see the answer presented to me as if on a platter.

With precious time saving tips sprinkled throughout the book and a very clear layout, I highly recommend this to any beginner NT device driver author. I believe experts will find optimizations and tips very helpful as well as a great reference guide to keep by their side.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best NT driver book I have got, July 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Windows NT Device Driver Development (Paperback)

Before this book, I have written several NT drivers based on DDK samples and another book from Art Baker. Although I could make my drivers work, there are many mysteries to me. It is a little frustrating experience, coz NT driver is much different from those old VxDs in Win95.

This book is surprisingly clear. Chapter after Chapter, It is such a joy for me to get answers to some questions which perplexted me for a long time. :)

Strongly recommended!

David

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before this book, you were out in the Zoo, November 24, 1998

By 

Peter J. Braam ([e-mail]) (Carnegie Mellon University) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windows NT Device Driver Development (Paperback)

Windows NT Device Driver Development (W3D) does an incredible job at explaining what is going on. Chapter by chapter (there are 24 chapters) a story unfolds explaining what events lead device drivers in Windows NT to run part of their code. Much detail covers what environment device drivers will find their code running in and how they should deliver things when handing over the next player.

I found the core chapters of this book to be the most interesting. For the first time I was reading about NT, and getting a good feel for the flow of control. While much detail is being presented, care was taken to keep the discussion moving. Cleverly topics that could distract the readers the train of thought are postponed a page or two and then given full attention. Source code is mostly discussed after the principles have been covered, and the code is all well commented, but also clear enough to be read without comments.

This book is an absolute must for anyone doing NT kernel programming or having a detailed interest in it. It is focussed on NT only and perhaps it is a pity that this wonderful discussion does not draw analogies with other operating systems, which often share similar principles. The clarity of the discussion is marvelous and enticing. Through the eyes of the masters, Windows NT appears to be a very interesting system.