The Linux Programming Interface

The Linux Programming Interface
AuthorMichael Kerrisk
LanguageEnglish
SeriesLearning
Subjectcovers current UNIX® standards (POSIX.1-2001 /SUSv3 and POSIX.1-2008 /SUSv4 )
Published2010 (No Starch Press)
Pages1512
ISBN978-1-59327-220-3

The Linux Programming Interface: A Linux and UNIX System Programming Handbook is a book written by Michael Kerrisk, which documents the APIs of the Linux kernel and of the GNU C Library (glibc).

Book

The book covers topics related to Linux operating system and operating systems in general. It enlists the history of Unix and how it led to the creation of Linux. It provides samples of code written in C, and learning exercises at the end of chapters. The author was a former writer for the Linux Weekly News[1] and the current maintainer for the Linux man pages project.[2]

The Linux Programming Interface is a well regarded[3] work on Linux systems programming and is available for readers in several languages.[4]

  • The Linux kernel API to userspace discussed in the book consists of both the System Call Interface and the GNU C Library.
    The Linux kernel API to userspace discussed in the book consists of both the System Call Interface and the GNU C Library.
  • In-kernel APIs are not discussed in the book, neither are ABIs.
    In-kernel APIs are not discussed in the book, neither are ABIs.
  • Simplified illustration of the Linux kernel's structure.
    Simplified illustration of the Linux kernel's structure.

At FOSDEM 2016 Michael Kerrisk, the author of The Linux Programming Interface, explained some of the issues with the Linux kernel's user-space API he and others perceive. It is littered with design errors: APIs which are non-extensible, unmaintainable, overly complex, limited-purpose, violations of standards, and inconsistent. Most of those mistakes can't be fixed because doing so would break the ABI that the kernel presents to user-space binaries.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "A goodbye note from Michael Kerrisk". lwn.net. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
  2. ^ "Linux man-pages home". kernel.org. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  3. ^ Kerrisk, Michael (October 2010). Amazon's Readers Review. ISBN 978-1593272203.
  4. ^ "Translations of 'The Linux Programming Interface'". man7.org. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
  5. ^ Michael Kerrisk (2016-01-31). "How to design a Linux kernel API".

External links