Linux System Programming: Talking Directly to the Kernel and C Library

Write software that draws directly on services offered by the Linux kernel and core system libraries. With this comprehensive book, Linux kernel contributor Robert Love provides you with a tutorial on Linux system programming, a reference manual on Linux system calls, and an insider’s guide to writing smarter, faster code.

Love clearly distinguishes between POSIX standard functions and special services offered only by Linux. With a new chapter on multithreading, this updated and expanded edition provides an in-depth look at Linux from both a theoretical and applied perspective over a wide range of programming topics, including:

• A Linux kernel, C library, and C compiler overview
• Basic I/O operations, such as reading from and writing to files
• Advanced I/O interfaces, memory mappings, and optimization techniques
• The family of system calls for basic process management
• Advanced process management, including real-time processes
• Thread concepts, multithreaded programming, and Pthreads
• File and directory management
• Interfaces for allocating memory and optimizing memory access
• Basic and advanced signal interfaces, and their role on the system
• Clock management, including POSIX clocks and high-resolution timers

Robert Love has been a Linux user and hacker since the early days. He is active in--and passionate about--the Linux kernel and GNOME desktop communities. His recent contributions to the Linux kernel include work on the kernel event layer and inotify. GNOME-related contributions include Beagle, GNOME Volume Manager, NetworkManager, and Project Utopia. Currently, Robert works in the Open Source Program Office at Google.