Operating Systems: A Modern Perspective, Lab Update

For three years, this is the book that I used as the text in my operating systems class. I found the coverage of the core topics that one covers in an undergraduate level course in a computer science major to be complete in both breadth and depth. Like all texts, there were times when I used some supplemental handouts in order to further emphasize a topic or to present additional practice problems. The order of the topics is: *) The abstract machine and how it is applied in a sequential and parallel manner. *) The fundamental organization of an operating system. *) The fundamental hardware structure of a Von Neumann computer and other architectures. *) Device management *) Implementing processes, threads and resources *) Job scheduling tactics and strategies *) Basic strategies for process synchronization *) Advanced strategies for process synchronization *) The definition of deadlock, how to avoid it and how to recognize and recover from it *) Memory management *) Virtual memory *) File management *) Security strategies and policies *) Networks and remote file sharing *) Distributed computing *) Strategies for the design of operating systems *) The Linux kernel *) The Windows NT/200/XP kernel There is far too much material in this book to cover in a one-semester class; generally I was able to cover everything up through the security strategies. I don't know when I will teach operating systems again, but if I do, this book will be at or near the top of my short list for the text.

This books picks up examples from real operating systems.. the conslusions at the end of every chapter make sense to anybody who has actually written code for an OS rather than one of those books that pontificate about how it is supposed to be.

As a text book, it is very good. I have read much worse. At some points, it will try to explain topics using actual code used by operative systems, and that can be confusing and hard to follow, especially Windows kernel code. And the exercises are hard if you do not have much practice with system software. On the good part, it is easy to read (talkative like, not lectury), and uses simple and easy to understand analogies. Another good thing about this book is that has a very complete index, and a very useful glossary.

I like that this book has examples (Unix/Linux and Windows) right next to the concept that it is covering. None of the other os books have this- I think it makes a big difference when you are a student and don't know this material at all! I think some other reviews are talking about an older edition of this book. the one I just bought has great examples ...

This book excels at explaining the concepts and approaches of modern Operating Systems. It was an enjoyable and light reading on the subject.However, for a more in depth study of an OS, I would recommend Unix Internals by Vahalia and 4.4BSD by McKusick et. al.