| Computer programmers and software engineers work with computer operating systems
every day. They use them, they work with them, and they even work "around" them to
get their jobs done. If you’re an experienced programmer, I’m willing to bet you’ve
pondered changes you would make to operating systems you use, or even thought about
what you would build and design into one if you were to write your own.
You don’t have to be Albert Einstein to figure out that many labor years go into writing a
computer operating system. You also don’t have to be Einstein to write one, although I’m
sure it would have increased my productivity a little while writing my own.
Unfortunately, I have Albert’s absent-mindedness, not his IQ.
Late in 1989 I undertook the task of writing a computer operating system. What I
discovered is that most of the books about operating system design are very heavy on
general theory and existing designs, but very light on specifics, code, and advice into the
seemingly endless tasks facing someone that really wants to sit down and create one. I’m
not knocking the authors of these books; I’ve learned a lot from all that I’ve read. It just
seemed there should be a more "down to earth" book that documents what you need to
know to get the job done.
Writing my own operating system has turned into a very personal thing for me. I have
been involved in many large software projects where others conceived the, and I was to
turn them into working code and documentation. In the case of my own operating
system, I set the ground rules. I decided what stayed and what went. I determined the
specifications for the final product. |
