Operating Systems Design and Implementation (3rd Edition) (Prentice Hall Software Series) (Hardcover)

by Andrew S Tanenbaum (Author), Albert S Woodhull (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
For introductory courses on computer operating systems. Revised to address the latest version of MINIX (MINIX 3), this streamlined, simplified new edition remains the only operating systems text to first explain relevant principles, then demonstrate their applications using a Unix-like operating system as a detailed example. It has been especially designed for high reliability, for use in embedded systems, and for ease of teaching.

From the Publisher
This book offers a unique and carefully integrated combination of principles and practice. While the usual principles are covered in detail, the book also describes a small, but real UNIX-like operating system: MINIX. It shows how it works and illustrates the principles behind it. By using MINIX, students learn principles and then can apply them in hands-on system design projects. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1080 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (January 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131429388
• ISBN-13: 978-0131429383
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,530 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best OS books out there, November 3, 1999

By	Geogia Tech Student (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operating Systems: Design and Implementation (Second Edition) (Hardcover)

First off, don't be fooled by people who claim this to be an "easy read". It isn't ... reading the entire book will take weeks, as the text is packed with information, not to mention exercises following each section. That being said, I highly recommend the book. It provides a thorough introduction to operating systems basics, from scheduling to terminals, along with source code. Don't expect to absorb it all at once!

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to operating systems, March 30, 2006

By	W. Faught (CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is written by Tanenbaum, the main guy behind Minix, which is what Linux was based on. It provides good overviews for basic OS concepts like memory management, file systems, processes, etc. The concepts in this book book are intimately tied to examples of the Minix OS, which is a good thing.

To those who would rather see examples from Linux: Minix is a compact and modular OS, which is why it's a good choice for examples. The book contains the entire source code at the back for easy reference. Yes, the OS is that small. That's a good thing when you're trying to figure out how virtual memory works or what have you. You'd be lost trying to learn this stuff from Linux. Above everything else, the code is ***well-commented*** compared to Linux, a major plus. You won't find any "/* major hack */" comments, either. ;) Minix leaves out all the crap that Microsoft and Linux throw into the kernel that make it unstable in the first place. Learn about the bells and whistles later when you can do the basics.

I encountered two instances where the book wasn't updated to reflect changes in the OS, which were annoying to deal with. Also, I found a spelling or punctuation error about every ten pages, which was annoying for such a pricey book. Overall, however, the book is extremely usable and understandable. It's easy to pick up concepts from this text.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should be called 'Unix Operating Systems'?, October 15, 2000

By	Adam Rutkowski (Frankfurt, Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Operating Systems: Design and Implementation (Second Edition) (Hardcover)

Although this book covers a great deal of topics regarding operating system designing, it is largely a book about the Unix OS, and its derivatives, particularly Minix. This is not at all bad, since it does cover a lot of general topics, but for a person interested in MS-DOS/Windows (or any other non-Unix OS for that matter), it can get boring.

The most important point to make about this book is: If you don't plan on messing around with the Minix source, you are probably wasting your money. This book may be 900+ pages, but the back 400 pages are a (reduced) listing of the Minix source code, and a lot of the main text is special sections that walk through this source code, describing how it works. This means that, in the end, you have about 250 pages of actual operating system text.

This is definitely a well written book, and the coverage of the trade-offs that an OS designer must make are very insightful, but if you don't plan on hacking Minix, you should probably look elsewhere.