This course provides in-depth training for software developers on UNIX system programming facilities. With an emphasis on writing portable programs using industry standards such as POSIX, X/Open, and the SUS, programming interfaces to several system services are explained in detail. Students will write and modify many C programs in this class, using system calls and library routines. This course can also be delivered on Linux.

Objectives

Develop the programming skills required to write applications that run on the UNIX operating system.

Write portable applications using UNIX standards.

Develop the basic skills required to write network programs using the Berkeley Sockets interface to the TCP/IP protocols.

Detailed Outline

1. Course Introduction
   • Course Objectives
   • Overview
   • Suggested References
2. UNIX Standards
   • Brief History of UNIX
   • AT&T and Berkeley UNIX Systems
   • Major Vendors
   • What is a Standard?
   • What is POSIX?
   • Other Industry Specs and Standards
   • Library vs. System-Level Functions
3. Files and Directories
   • Basic File Types
   • File Descriptors
   • The open() and creat() Functions
   • Keeping Track of Open Files
   • File Table Entries
   • The v-node Structure
   • The fcntl() Function
   • The fcntl() Function – with F_DUPFD Command
   • File Attributes
   • The access() Function
   • link(), unlink(), remove(), and rename() Functions
   • Functions to Create, Remove, and Read Directories
4. System I/O
   • Standard I/O vs system I/O
   • System I/O Calls
   • File and Record Locking
5. Processes
   • What is a Process?
   • Process Creation and Termination
   • Process Memory Layout
   • Dynamic Memory Allocation
   • Accessing Environment Variables
   • Real and Effective User IDs
6. Process Management
   • The Difference Between Programs and Processes
   • The fork() System Function
   • Parent and Child
   • The exec System Functions
   • Current Image and New Image
   • The wait() Functions
   • The waitpid() Function
   • Interpreter files and exec
7. Basic Interprocess Communication: Pipes
   • Interprocess Communication
   • Pipes
   • FIFOs
8. Signals
   • What is a Signal?
   • Types of Signals
   • Signal Actions
   • Blocking Signals from Delivery
   • The sigaction() function
   • Signal Sets and Operations
   • Sending a Signal to Another Process
   • Blocking Signals with sigprocmask()
   • Scheduling and Waiting for Signals
   • Restarting System Calls (SVR4)
   • Signals and Reentrancy
9. Introduction to Pthreads
   • Processes and Threads
   • Creating Threads
   • Multitasking
   • Overview of Thread Architectures
   • Processes Versus Threads
   • The Pthreads API
   • Thread Termination
   • Joining Threads
   • Detaching Threads
   • Passing Arguments to Threads
10. Pthreads Synchronization
    • The Sharing Problem
    • Mutexes
    • Creating and Initializing Mutexes
    • Using Mutexes
    • Additional Synchronization Requirement
    • Using Condition Variables
11. Overview of Client/Server Programming with Berkeley Sockets
    • Designing Applications for a Distributed Environment
    • Clients and Servers
    • Ports and Services
    • Connectionless vs. Connection-Oriented Servers
    • Stateless vs. Stateful Servers
    • Concurrency Issues
12. The Berkeley Sockets API
    • Berkeley Sockets
    • Data Structures of the Sockets API
    • Socket System Calls
    • Socket Utility Functions
13. TCP Client Design
    • Algorithms instead of Details
    • Client Architecture
    • Generic Client/Server Model – TCP
    • The TCP Client Algorithm
14. TCP Server Design
    • General Concepts
    • Iterative Servers
    • Concurrent Servers
    • Performance Consideration
    • An Iterative Server Design
    • A Concurrent Server Design
15. System V Interprocess Communication
    • System V IPC
    • Elements Common to msg, shm, and sem Facilities
    • The Three System V IPC Facilities
    • IPC via Message Queues
    • IPC via Shared Memory
    • Coordinating the Use of Shared Memory Segments
    • Semaphore Sets – semget()
    • Semaphore Sets – semctl()
    • Semaphore Sets – the semop() call
    • Shared Memory Coordination Using Semaphores
    • Commands for IPC Facility Handling – ipcs and ipcrm
16. Appendix A – Date and Time Functions
    • Overview
    • Time Representations
    • Decoding Calendar Time
    • Shorthand Functions – asctime() and ctime()
    • Formatting Date and Time Strings
    • Process Times
    • The Difference Between clock() and times()
    • Berkeley High Resolution Timer
17. Appendix B – Standard I/O
    • Standard I/O Calls to manipulate streams
    • Standard I/O Calls which perform character I/O
    • Standard I/O Calls which perform string I/O
    • Standard I/O Calls Which Perform Formatted I/O
    • Standard I/O Calls Which Perform Binary I/O