Product: Linux Device Drivers

I read this book in preparation for a contract job that involved porting a Linux device driver to another operating system. I already have years of experience in operating system design, and have written device drivers in the past. However, Linux has changed over the years, and I wanted to make sure I knew all the latest information.

I certainly got what a wanted - this book helped me brush up my knowledge, with excellent details on the different steps required to implement a device driver, which functions to call, and what the various gotchas could be. I must admit that I read through the book fairly quickly (to get the high level view), and then re-read certain sections when I found that I needed more detail (as I proceeded to port the device driver).

Some warnings though:
1) This isn’t a good book for anybody learning about device drivers for the first time. It assumes you already have a good understanding of the theory.
2) If you want to write your own driver (which I haven’t actually done), it seems to me as if you’d need to spend a lot of time going through all the examples, and typing them in yourself (that’s the best way to learn). The material in this book is pretty heavy weight and it might time to learn. Of course, this isn’t a reflection on the book, as much as it is on Linux itself.

In general, a really good book, assuming you have the time to read it properly, and you already know the basics of how drivers work.
Rating: 5
0596005903
Count: 15