ISBN:0672327201Book Description
The Linux kernel is one of the most important and far-reaching open-source projects. That is why Novell Press is excited to bring you the second edition of Linux Kernel Development, Robert Love's widely acclaimed insider's look at the Linux kernel. This authoritative, practical guide helps developers better understand the Linux kernel through updated coverage of all the major subsystems as well as new features associated with the Linux 2.6 kernel. You'll be able to take an in-depth look at Linux kernel from both a theoretical and an applied perspective as you cover a wide range of topics, including algorithms, system call interface, paging strategies and kernel synchronization. Get the top information right from the source in Linux Kernel Development.
/p>Reviews From AMAZON.COM
Good and easily readable, but...
The book is easily readable. It gives a higher-level overview of the architecture of the linux kernel. Most important subsystems are covered, but in-depth descriptions are sorely missing. It is easily readable and generally useful as a guide through more stable parts of the kernel.
One star less because some subsystems are not mentioned at all, like networking, SCSI, ATA, USB or FireWire. For these parts the would-be kernel hacker is doomed to having they way around just the kernel source - no help from this book.
Another star less because of technically incorrect material written in the portability chapter. The problem is that the author is talking about the "C language" and his statements are simply incorrect in that context (although they may be valid for the gcc compiler restricted to the architectures supported by linux).
One example is saying that the unsigned long type is the natural size of the machine word (i.e. 32 bits on 32-bit machines and 64 bits on 64-bit ones). This is simply not correct in the context of the C language as such where unsigned long has to be at least 32 bits, but it doesn't say that on 64-bit machines must be 64 bits.
There are many int-to-pointer and vice-versa conversions in the kernel for which the above comment is very relevant.
Another example is saying that the char type has always 8 bits in C. This is also not true - it has CHAR_BIT bits, defined by the implementation. CHAR_BIT can be arbitrary as far as the C standard is concerned.
Excellent Book
This book will not only provide a good understanding of the Linux kernel but also Operating System design in general. Anyone who wishes to dig into the kernel source should keep a copy of this book in hand. It would be like reading an article in a foreign language and having the translation book with you too :). I highly reccommend it.