Kernel Programming Guide

About This Document
- Who Should Read This Document
- Road Map
- Other Apple Publications
- Mach API Reference
- Information on the Web
Keep Out
- Why You Should Avoid Programming in the Kernel
Kernel Architecture Overview
- Darwin
- Architecture
- Kernel Extensions
The Early Boot Process
- Boot ROM
- The Boot Loader
- Rooting
Security Considerations
- Security Implications of Paging
- Buffer Overflows and Invalid Input
- User Credentials
- Remote Authentication
- Temporary Files
- /dev/mem and /dev/kmem
- Key-based Authentication and Encryption
- Console Debugging
- Code Passing
Performance Considerations
- Interrupt Latency
- Locking Bottlenecks
- Code Profiling
Kernel Programming Style
- C++ Naming Conventions
- Standard C Naming Conventions
- Commonly Used Functions
- Performance and Stability Tips
- Style Summary
Mach Overview
- Mach Kernel Abstractions
- Tasks and Threads
- Ports, Port Rights, Port Sets, and Port Namespaces
- Memory Management
- Interprocess Communication (IPC)
- Time Management
Memory and Virtual Memory
- OS X VM Overview
- Memory Maps Explained
- Named Entries
- Universal Page Lists (UPLs)
- Using Mach Memory Maps
- Other VM and VM-Related Subsystems
- Address Spaces
- Allocating Memory in the Kernel
Mach Scheduling and Thread Interfaces
- Overview of Scheduling
- Why Did My Thread Priority Change?
- Using Mach Scheduling From User Applications
- Kernel Thread APIs
Bootstrap Contexts
- How Contexts Affect Users
- How Contexts Affect Developers
I/O Kit Overview
- Redesigning the I/O Model
- I/O Kit Architecture
- For More Information
BSD Overview
- BSD Facilities
- Differences between OS X and BSD
- For Further Reading
File Systems Overview
- Working With the File System
- VFS Transition
Network Architecture
Boundary Crossings
- Security Considerations
- Choosing a Boundary Crossing Method
- Mach Messaging and Mach Interprocess Communication (IPC)
- BSD syscall API
- BSD ioctl API
- BSD sysctl API
- Memory Mapping and Block Copying
- Summary
Synchronization Primitives
- Semaphores
- Condition Variables
- Locks
Miscellaneous Kernel Services
- Using Kernel Time Abstractions
- Boot Option Handling
- Queues
- Installing Shutdown Hooks
Kernel Extension Overview
- Implementation of a Kernel Extension (KEXT)
- Kernel Extension Dependencies
- Building and Testing Your Extension
- Debugging Your KEXT
- Installed KEXTs
Building and Debugging Kernels
- Adding New Files or Modules
- Building Your First Kernel
- Building an Alternate Kernel Configuration
- When Things Go Wrong: Debugging the Kernel
Bibliography
- Apple OS X Publications
- General UNIX and Open Source Resources
- BSD and UNIX Internals
- Mach
- Networking
- Operating Systems
- POSIX
- Programming
- Websites and Online Resources
- Security and Cryptography
Revision History
Glossary