Concepts of Operating Systems

Providing an introduction to the basic concepts behind any computer operating system, this book contains suitable material to support a full course on operating systems for students with a basic understanding of computer science or some practical experience of computing. It will also appeal to engineers developing software for embedded systems. The introductory chapters describe essential background information, including a historical perspective, a survey of major types of system and an examination of the basic structure of operating systems. Subsequent chapters then present more detailed discussions of the fundamental activities performed by systems, including input/output and window management, scheduling, memory management and file systems. Theaker and Brookes then examine general problems of resource management, including protection and control for communication and sychronization. Aspects of distributed processing, embracing a review of networking and interworking issues are also covered. Finally, a simple system design is provided in the appendix, with encouragement to develop the basic concept into more sophisticated facilities.