Systems Programming in Unix/Linux

Abstract

Systems programming is an indispensable part of Computer Science and Computer Engineering education. System programming courses in Computer Science/Engineering curriculums play two important roles. First, it provides students with a wide range of knowledge about computer system software and advanced programming skills, allowing them to interface with operating system kernel, perform file operations and network programming, and make efficient use of system resources to develop application programs. Second, it prepares students with needed background to pursue advanced studies in Computer Science/Engineering, such as operating systems, embedded systems, database systems, data mining, artificial intelligence, computer networks, and distributed and parallel computing. Due to its importance, systems programming in Unix/Linux has been a popular subject matter in CS/CE education and also for self-study by advanced programmers. As a result, there are a tremendous number of books and online articles in this area. Despite these, I still find it difficult to choose a suitable book for the Systems Programming course I teach at WSU. For many years, I had to use my own class notes and programming assignments in the course. After careful thinking, I have decided to put together the materials into a book form. The purpose of this book is to provide a suitable platform for teaching and learning the theory and practice of systems programming. Unlike most other books, this book covers systems programming topics in greater depth and it stresses programming practice. It uses a series of programming projects to let students apply their acquired knowledge and programming skills to develop practical and useful programs. The book is intended as a textbook in technical-oriented systems programming courses. It contains detailed example programs with complete source code, making it suitable for selfstudy also. Undertaking this book project has proved to be another very demanding and time-consuming endeavor. While preparing the manuscripts for publication, I have been blessed with the encouragement and help from many people. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them. I want to especially thank Yan Zhang for his help in preparing figures for the book and proofreading the manuscript.