Re: [LI] Kernel learning

[Arun Sharma <adsharma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Dec 03, 1999 at 08:54:41PM -0800, Debansu Saha wrote:
> For studying the kernel in depth, can anyone gimme pointers as to
> where I can start from so that as I go on, I get on to the working
> of the kernel, the memory management done by the kernel, scheduling
> and all that which is done by the kernel. All this so that it does not
> go over my head and learn something also.

To me, the biggest hurdle was understanding the flow of control. This
is the most complex part of the kernel.

Quoting the 4.4 BSD book - the kernel has an upper half (system calls
and everything else) and a lower half (interrupt handlers, faults).
One is synchronous and the other is asynchronous.

For the system calls, follow from the C call to getpid and study all the
way to the C function. For the interrupts, start from the interrupt
controller setup code, irq/fault handlers and work your way up.

You also need a solid understanding of the compiler, if you're studying
Linux, which is very closely wedded to gcc.
 
	-Arun

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