Understanding the Linux Kernel

Versions of this book (covers): v1=linux-2.2, v2=linux-2.4, v3=linux-2.6 (this version)
The first edition of "Understanding the Linux Kernel" at the end of 2000, which covered Linux 2.2 with a few anticipations on Linux 2.4. The success encountered by this book encouraged us to continue along this line.
At the end of 2002, we came out with a second edition covering Linux 2.4. You are now looking at the third edition, which covers Linux 2.6.
The Audience for This Book: Our work might be considered a guided tour of the Linux kernel: most of the significant data structures and many algorithms and programming tricks used in the kernel are discussed. In many cases, the relevant fragments of code are discussed line by line. Of course, you should have the Linux source code on hand and should be willing to expend some effort deciphering some of the functions that are not, for sake of brevity, fully described.
On another level, the book provides valuable insight to people who want to know more about the critical design issues in a modern operating system. It is not specifically addressed to system administrators or programmers; it is mostly for people who want to understand how things really work inside the machine! As with any good guide, we try to go beyond superficial features. We offer a background, such as the history of major features and the reasons why they were used.