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This book explains a very technical subject in a not-so-technical manner, putting the
concepts of operating systems into a format that students can quickly grasp.
For those new to the subject, this text demonstrates what operating systems are, what
they do, how they do it, how their performance can be evaluated, and how they compare
with each other. Throughout the text we describe the overall function and tell
readers where to find more detailed information, if they so desire.
For those with more technical backgrounds, this text introduces the subject concisely,
describing the complexities of operating systems without going into intricate detail.
One might say this book leaves off where other operating system textbooks begin.
To do so, we’ve made some assumptions about our audiences. First, we assume the
readers have some familiarity with computing systems. Second, we assume they
have a working knowledge of an operating system and how it interacts with them.
We recommend (although we don’t require) that readers be familiar with at least
one operating system. In a few places, we found it necessary to include examples
using Java or pseudocode to illustrate the inner workings of the operating systems;
but, for readers who are unfamiliar with computer languages, we’ve added a prose
description to each example that explains the events in more familiar terms. |
