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Operating System Design, Volume I: The XINU Approach (P.C. Edition)
Operating System Design Volume I The XINU Approach - P.C. Edition Author:Douglas Comer, Timothy Fossum From the Preface: — ...PCs support a variety of programming tools sufficient to carry out the entire design and development of an operating system like Xinu on the PC itself. The PC makes it possible for small groups and individuals to study and experiment with operating systems without spending inordinate amounds of money on laboratory faciliti... more »es.
Experience in teaching operating systems has convinced us that students learn best when they participate in the design, implementation, and modification of a real operating system. Hands-on laboratory work allows students to observe problems and solutions in detail. It gives them intuition and demonstrates the importance of abstractions. In this regard, Xinu world well as a laboratory tool. It is sufficiently sophisticated for use in working systems (e.g., volume 2 shows how it has been used to implement network communication and a user interface), yet it is simple enough for one person to understand in its entirety.
Poster's note: While the book goes on to mention a nominal charge for a disk with the complete source code, the complete Xinu source code is now freely available on the internet.
From Amazon:
An important two-volume series, the first volume describes each step of the design and decision making process, while Volume II adds internetworking and user interface software. Professional software programmers can learn how protocol software fits into an operating system and how VAX software works as well.
From faqs.org:
A walk-through of the principles behind, and implementation of, the Xinu operating system, a small instructional OS similar to Unix. While this text is aging somewhat, it presents its material in a clear fashion, and does a good job of covering the "standard" fundamentals of operating systems.« less