Resources to develop an operating system [closed]

U

15

66

I'm planning to write an operating system and I don't know very much about operating systems. Are there any good resources or books to read in order for me to learn? What are your recommendations?

Upside answered 31/10, 2008 at 16:39 Comment(0)

O

48

We used Andrew Tannenbaum's Modern Operating Systems at the university I attended. I highly recommend it for it's clear explanations of the tradeoffs inherent in many of the design decisions that you'll run up against. This book is a little bit more "fair and balanced" than the Minix book.

I also recommend this book because, despite his net-famous flame war with Linus Torvalds, few of his biases come through in the book. Also, he's a pretty decent writer, and the book is actually entertaining.

Objectivity answered 31/10, 2008 at 16:44 Comment(1)

I'm reading through this book (second edition) cover-to-cover as we speak and whilst it's a huge book it's incredibly detailed. This and Operating System Concepts by Silberschatz and Galvin are the two best books to pick up knowledge on Operating Systems. – Shir 10/1, 2009 at 2:8

E

15

Operating Systems Implementation Prentice Software

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.

I think you should start by something like that.

Entrenchment answered 31/10, 2008 at 16:43 Comment(1)

I just want to point out that Linux wasn't really "based on" Minix, it was intended as a replacement for it. Linux has a monolithic kernel, while Minix is based on a microkernel design. – Objectivity 1/1, 2009 at 1:30

M

11

Similar threads on this very site:

Mariannamarianne answered 31/10, 2008 at 17:35 Comment(0)

E

10

Operating System Concepts is the book we used at University. It's quite ugly BUT the information inside are well explain (from basic memory management, to how to OS decide what to execute or how to avoid deadlock). Pretty wide.

Entrenchment answered 31/10, 2008 at 16:56 Comment(4)

Ugly? But the cover is beautiful! I love that book because it looks so pretty on my bookshelf. Can't really remember what it's like on the inside, though. – Sandasandakan 31/10, 2008 at 18:17

Yeah, this is a classic. It's usually referred to as the Dinosaur book. I have it on the couch with my right now actually. This is a good book, it is introductory though. Usually, it is an undergraduate text. – Limpet 10/1, 2009 at 2:3

I've always heard it referred to as The Dino Book and I'll agree that it is an undergraduate textbook. – Shir 10/1, 2009 at 2:9

I tried to click to look inside but it didnt work :( – Quinby 16/1, 2009 at 22:54

E

9

Os dev website is rich in information if you want to start coding your own OS too,

Entrenchment answered 31/10, 2008 at 16:45 Comment(0)

C

7

While old, these books are very good:

Operating System Design with Xinu

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AVJFBS3EL._SL500_BO2,204,203,200_AA219_PIsitb-sticker-dp-arrow,TopRight,-24,-23_SH20_OU01_.jpg

Operating System Design-Internetworking With XINU, Vol. II

3: http://Operating System Design-Internetworking With XINU, Vol. II

Chivalry answered 31/10, 2008 at 18:14 Comment(0)

I

4

Take a look at HelenOS, which is a from scratch microkernel based OS that aims to be a fully modern OS. Disclamer, I'm a contributor, I'm working on its shell from scratch.

HelenOS has been ported to ia32/64, SPARC, ARM and more, its very well designed and easy to read. Its still in its infancy but shows one possible design that really takes advantage of the microkernel design and solves many issues in a microkernel implementation (such as IPC).

It also includes scripts that automatically set up a proper tool chain needed for cross compiling. Its very easy to build and runs very well in most simulators (i.e. QEMU) or bare metal.

I would also study L4, Minix3 and the GNU HURD (based on Mach), the latter being an illustration of design pitfalls when trying to leverage a microkernel.

If you want to go the monolithic route, just study Linux.

Inconstant answered 10/1, 2009 at 2:35 Comment(0)

E

3

I'd highly recommend taking a look at the MIT Operating Systems class. It's got lots of useful references, and a bunch of lab exercises which you can play around with (including automated grading scripts, so you don't have to be an MIT student to do them).

Escobedo answered 31/10, 2008 at 17:39 Comment(0)

P

3

textbook http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411E3CQQYZL._SS500_.jpg

I used Operating Systems and Middleware: Supporting Controlled Interaction when I was in college. It is probably one of the best textbooks on the subject.

Plastid answered 16/1, 2009 at 22:47 Comment(0)

A

2

Just off the top of my head.

Adrenalin answered 31/10, 2008 at 16:45 Comment(1)

get it free here library.lol/main/F6FE9D77E7CC5647FE35B0446F34B5AC – Expediential 20/6, 2021 at 17:3

T

2

Developing Your Own 32-Bit Operating System by Richard A. Burgess. Went into great details about boot loaders, setting up those strange memory and process management registers, etc. It was a great read back in 1996 when i thought i'd take a crack at writing a simple OS from scratch, but may be dated by now, dealing only with the first few generations of Pentium-class CPUs.

Tannin answered 31/10, 2008 at 19:11 Comment(1)

How far did you get with writing an OS from scratch? – Freelance 25/6, 2013 at 14:11

E

1

If I remember correctly, the Powerup to Bash Prompt HOWTO contained a lot of information that looked like it would be useful for this. So did older versions of the Linux From Scratch HOWTO, but in recent versions that has been removed.

You'll also find a lot of good information in Understanding the Linux Kernel.

Estriol answered 31/10, 2008 at 18:5 Comment(0)

U

1

I would recommend looking at embedded operating systems and building an embedded OS. It will deal with the core concepts without the overhead of a modern desktop CPU.

I wrote a multitasking embedded OS last spring as a final project, it's easier than you might think.

Umiak answered 31/10, 2008 at 18:36 Comment(3)

Could you recommend any resources for this? thanks. – Sophist 31/1, 2020 at 5:44

@Sohaib - not anymore. This answer is almost 12 years old. – Umiak 27/2, 2020 at 22:46

What do you do now @Paul Nathan? Are you working with computer architecture stuff? – Feat 11/8, 2020 at 8:54

L

1

You should look into MINIX 3. This is an operating system that was written in, I believe, less than 10,000 lines. You can get a very good idea of how an OS works with the aid of one of Tanenbaum's books and understanding how MINIX 3 works. You could go straight to Linux, but I think this is a useful task and really helps you see how it really doesn't take that many lines to build a working OS.

http://www.minix3.org/

Limpet answered 10/1, 2009 at 2:6 Comment(1)

Just putting it out there... but I think MINIX 1 was < 10,000. MINIX 3 is significantly more complex, thought I don't know how many lines it is. – Johny 5/12, 2009 at 18:29

F

0

Apart from books, there are many sites that learn OS Development
BrokenThorn Entertainment is on of this website that learn OS dev from base

Filmy answered 26/4, 2013 at 11:52 Comment(0)

Recommended topics

Hot tags