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OS X Kernel Overview

Posted by timothy on from the well-done-online-book dept.

Don Negro writes: "Found this on Apple's Developer site. A solid overview of the OS X kernel - what bits are Mach, what bits are BSD - and a good level a detail. This is the first installment. As they say in the introduction 'Only you can prevent kernel panics.'"

4 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. My favorite quote... by jarodss · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Kernel programming is by and large a black art that should be avoided if at all possible."
    Heh, I like that, so true.

    It's something to hang beside my copy of the 2.4.15 kernel source code, I had to print it, my boss had a good laugh at it when I showed him, we have a few guys in house who are on the cutting edge of everything they can be and were running 2.4.15, about half lost their work because they were on the bleeding edge.

  2. Re:I was going to read it... by Arandir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now, I'm scared. Honestly, after reading through that introduction, I'm scared to touch kernel code. Hell, I'm scared to look at it.

    That's kernel code for you :-)

    You can be the best programmer in the world, know assembly/C/C++ inside and out, and all that jazz, but when you hit kernel code it's like a different reality.

    --
    A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
  3. Sheesh... by CottonEyedJoe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    From the posts here, you'd think the title of the article was "Look at the silly Keep Out page".
    Cmon guys its just a disclaimer. Given the potential audience, its not a bad disclaimer either. Traditional mac "classic" developers are used to doing anything they want with system extensions. If you've used MacOS9 and below, youre aware that there are a plethora of extensions out there that can cause all sorts of headaches...not all are freeware hobbiest projects.

    More than anything else, I see that page as a warning to those used to using extensions to trample all over Apple's system code and cause major stability issues in the process in MacOS (not OSX).

  4. Re:I was going to read it... by pthisis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From Alan Cox, in the kerneltrap interview running on the front page of slashdot right now:

    Ignore everyone who tells you kernel hacking is hard, special or different. It's a large program, and bug fixing or driver tweaking can be a best starting point. It is however not magic, nor written in a secret language that only deep initiates with beards can read.

    Play with it, try things, break it horribly and enjoy yourself. I started on the networking code because it didn't work very well. Everything I knew about TCP/IP I had downloaded the same day I started hacking the net code. My first attempts were not pretty but it was *fun*.

    Sumner

    --
    rage, rage against the dying of the light