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Coursebook

This coursebook is being built by students and faculty from the University of Illinois. It is based on a crowd-source authoring wikibook experiment by Lawrence Angrave from CS @ Illinois, but is now its own .tex based project. It's source is located at the github link which you can find a pdf version of the book as well.

This book is an introduction to programming in C, and system programming (processes, threads, synchronization, networking and more!). We assume you've already had some programming experience, in an earlier computer science course. If you have any typos to report or content to request, feel free to file an issue at the link above. Happy Reading!

-- Bhuvy

One Big File

1. Introduction

1. Authors

2. Background

1. Systems Architecture
2. Debugging and Environments
3. Valgrind
4. GDB
5. Homework 0
6. UIUC Specific Guidelines

3. The C Programming Language

1. History of C
2. Features
3. Crash course introduction to C
4. Preprocessor
5. Language Facilities
6. The C and Linux
7. Common C Functions
8. C Memory Model
9. Pointers
10. Common Bugs
11. Logic and Program flow mistakes
12. Topics
13. Questions/Exercises
14. Rapid Fire: Pointer Arithmetic

4. Processes

1. File Descriptors
2. Processes
3. Process Contents
4. Intro to Fork
5. Waiting and Execing
6. exec
7. The fork-exec-wait Pattern
8. Further Reading
9. Questions/Exercises

5. Memory Allocators

1. Introduction
2. C Memory Allocation API
3. Intro to Allocating
4. Memory Allocator Tutorial
5. Case study: Buddy Allocator, an example of a segregated list
6. Further Reading
7. Topics
8. Questions/Exercises

6. Threads

1. Processes vs threads
2. Thread Internals
3. Simple Usage
4. Pthread Functions
5. Race Conditions
6. Topics
7. Questions

7. Synchronization

1. Mutex
2. Condition Variables
3. Thread Safe Data Structures
4. Software Solutions to the Critical Section
5. Working Solutions
6. Implementing Counting Semaphore
7. Ring Buffer
8. Extra: Process Synchronization
9. Extra: Higher Order Models of Synchronization
10. External Resources
11. Topics
12. Questions

8. Deadlock

1. Resource Allocation Graphs
2. Coffman conditions
3. Approaches to solving deadlock
4. Dining Philosophers
5. Viable Solutions
6. Topics
7. Questions

9. Virtual Memory and Interprocess Communication

1. Translating Addresses
2. mmap
3. Pipes
4. Named Pipes
5. Files
6. So Many IPC Options
7. Topics
8. Questions

10. Scheduling

1. High Level Scheduler Overview
2. Measurements
3. Measures of Efficiency
4. Scheduling Algorithms
5. Scheduling Conceptually
6. Topics
7. Questions

11. Networking

1. The OSI Model
2. Layer 3: The Internet Protocol
3. Layer 4: TCP and Client
4. Layer 4: TCP Server
5. Layer 4: UDP
6. Layer 7: HTTP
7. Non Blocking IO
8. Remote Procedure Calls
9. Topics
10. Questions

12. Filesystems

1. What is a filesystem?
2. Storing data on disk
3. Permissions and bits
4. Virtual filesystems and other filesystems
5. Memory Mapped IO
6. Reliable Single Disk Filesystems
7. Simple Filesystem Model
8. Topics
9. Questions

13. Signals

1. The Deep Dive of Signals
2. Sending Signals
3. Handling Signals
4. Signal Disposition
5. Disposition in Child Processes (No Threads)
6. Signals in a multithreaded program
7. Topics
8. Questions

14. Security

1. Security Terminology and Ethics
2. Security in C Programs
3. Cyber Security
4. Topics
5. Review

15. Review

1. C
2. Threading
3. Deadlock
4. IPC
5. Filesystems
6. Networking
7. Signals

16. Honors topics

1. The Linux Kernel
2. Containerization

17. Appendix

1. Shell
2. Stack Smashing
3. System Programming Jokes

18. Post Mortems

1. Shell Shock
2. Heartbleed
3. Dirty Cow
4. Meltdown
5. Spectre
6. Mars Pathfinder
7. Mars Again
8. Year 2038
9. Northeast Blackout of 2003
10. Apple IOS Unicode Handling
11. Apple SSL Verification
12. Sony Rootkit Installation
13. Civilization and Ghandi
14. The Woes of Shell Scripting
15. Appnexus Double Free
16. ATT Cascading Failures - 1990