The Design of the UNIX Operating System

by Maurice J. Bach

This book describes the internal algorithms and the structures that form the basis of the UNIX® operating system and their relationship to the programmer interface. The system description is based on UNIX System V Release 2 supported by AT&T, with some features from Release 3.

Genres: Computer Science, Programming, Technology, Technical, Computers, Nonfiction, Software

471 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[carl theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A UNIX bible, not for the just dabbling programmer, but
more the systems level. This was the text for one of
those 3day all day on site classes. Even if you're not
interested in the nitty-gritty it is interesting to
browse through and see how disk blocks are read
or structures linked, for example.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute classic! I wax nostalgic every time I see it. Brings back good memories. I know, I know, Linux beat out UNIX, albeit being very nearly the same, but in my day, there was a certain mystique and elegance to a UNIX flavor that I've never quite found replicated in a LINUX distribution. I'm old school, or possibly just old. Still, a great book and permanently recommended!

[Dhanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please provide me the link for reading this book online

[Strong Extraordinary Dreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is not so much that I enjoyed this book. Rather, I appreciated the thorough overview of the operating system that I interact with for many hours a day.

I think that anyone with an advanced layman's appreciation of *nix would find something in this book, though it is long, and old. At the same time, the historical aspects were nice. The history of Unix.

I am glad that I worked through every relevant word of this book - I skipped the exercises.

[Terry Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic, I got it from an ex Sun employee. It is quite old (1986) but really helpful to understand how Unix and Linux Operating Systems work. Especially the chapters about processes (Chapter 4 - 8) and Memory Management. Worth reading if you are interested in Linux/Unix internals.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expensive but well worth it, a must read for any Unix guru

[D Vijaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a great starter for anyone who wants to know what happens in a UNIX box. Classic read.

[Jack Repenning · Rating 4 out of 5]

The internals under the original *UX

[Didier "Dirac Ghost" Gaulin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unix is without a shadow of a doubt, the most important system ever to be design for computers. From Linux, Darwin Os which evolved and became the apple family of operating systems for their various devices, to the hard to penetrate BSD world (and a favorite of mine), Unix is at the very basis of much of modern computer science today. This book, written in the late 80s, showcase many of the foundational system calls, memory mapping algorithms and foundational structures that Unix brought to the world of information. It is a fun read, with quite a few graphical presentations of concepts, it digs into the very core of the system, explaining most of the main mechanisms that direct operations around in a very clear manner. A must read for any system designer, hacker and system administrator.

[Elie De Brauwer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually an awesome read, this book dates from '86 and has aged incredibly well. Okay, I agree the approach to multiprocessing and distributed systems has changed a bit in almost 4 decades and the Internet (and by extension sockets) is slightly more popular nowadays while it was still exotic in '86. But the remainder of the book focuses on a really interesting layers. Other books focus too much on the hardware (either computer architecture or device drivers) or the user space aspects. While this book focuses on a middle layer right at the interaction with between kernel-space and user-space at the implementation of the systemcalls and the underlying algorithms (which often shine in their simplicity).

[Mohan G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among Tech books this is a classic and a must read for people to know how operating systems are built and what thought process goes into them. Its a ready reckoner of sorts, a place where you go looking for patterns. Its a timeless book.

[Hrishikesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is pure bliss! Gives a thorough idea of how Unix operating systems algorithms are designed and quite philosophical too!

[Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a re-read of Maurice Bach's classic. Brilliant, succinct, and to the point. It has just enough detail, C code wise, to convey the fundamental simple elegance of the design. Recommended.

[Mikhail Filatov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and still not dated overview of UNIX design, covering not only How but Why.

[Darrell Ulm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seems like the best book to get the info on how UNIX really is designed. Great diagrams, details and information.

[Nagendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

ver good book

[Shortempered]

I love this book !

Another super-interesting book ! ! !

[--Review pending--]

[Rahul Chowdhury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still amazes me...

[Swapnil]

i have started to reading this now...

[Parag Kamble · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Is the Best Book I have ever read..

[Rahul Iyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great starter to understanding how one would implement a unix kernel.

[Nilanker]

good

[Pratik dhanave · Rating 5 out of 5]

masterpiece

[Alessio]

An interesting read from a historical perspective.

[Yasser Abdallah]

to learn

[Krishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The core principles are explained well and helps understand the evolution of the operating system. Must read

[Chee Bin HOH · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book to understand original Unix design and algorithm.

[Sara Mohamed]

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