Developing Applications for Linux

This course is designed to help experienced developers get up to speed quickly on how to develop applications for a Linux environment.

In this course you’ll learn:

• The tools and methods for developing C programs and doing systems programming under Linux.
• Debugging techniques and process management. 
• Linux specific paid and system calls.
• And more.

The information in this course will work with any major Linux distribution.

Audience: This course is for experienced developers.

Prerequisites: Students should be proficient in C programming, and be familiar with basic Linux utilities and text editors.

Course Materials: As part of your registration, a printed copy of the course manual will be course manual will be provided. It will be mailed to you the week prior to the class.

Course Outline:

1. Introduction
   • Objectives
   • Who You Are
   • The Linux Foundation
   • Linux Foundation Training
   • Linux Distributions
   • Platforms
   • Preparing Your System
   • Using and Downloading a Virtual Machine
   • Things change in Linux
   • Course Registration
2. Preliminaries
   • Procedures
   • Standards and the LSB
3. How to Work in OSS Projects **
   • Overview on How to Contribute Properly
   • Stay Close to Mainline for Security and Quality
   • Study and Understand the Project DNA
   • Figure Out What Itch You Want to Scratch
   • Identify Maintainers and Their Work Flows and Methods
   • Get Early Input and Work in the Open
   • Contribute Incremental Bits, Not Large Code Dumps
   • Leave Your Ego at the Door: Don’t Be Thin-Skinned
   • Be Patient, Develop Long Term Relationships, Be Helpful
4. Compilers
   • GCC
   • Other Compilers
   • Major gcc Options
   • Preprocessor
   • Integrated Development Environments (IDE)
   • Labs
5. Libraries
   • Static Libraries
   • Shared Libraries
   • Linking To Libraries
   • Dynamic Linking Loader
   • Labs
6. Make
   • Using make and Makefiles
   • Building large projects
   • More complicated rules
   • Built-in rules
   • Labs
7. Source Control
   • Source Control
   • RCS and CVS
   • Subversion
   • git
   • Labs
8. Debugging and Core Dumps
   • gdb
   • What are Core Dump Files?
   • Producing Core Dumps
   • Examining Core Dumps
   • Labs
9. Debugging Tools
   • Electric Fence
   • Getting the Time
   • Profiling and Performance
   • valgrind
   • Labs
10. System Calls
    • System Calls vs. Library Functions
    • How System Calls are Made
    • Return Values and Error Numbers
    • Labs
11. Memory Management and Allocation
    • Memory Management
    • Dynamical Allocation
    • Tuning malloc()
    • Locking Pages
    • Labs
12. Files and Filesystems in Linux **
    • Files, Directories and Devices
    • The Virtual File System
    • The ext2/ext3 Filesystem
    • Journaling Filesystems
    • The ext4/ Filesystem
    • Labs
13. File I/O
    • UNIX File I/O
    • Opening and Closing
    • Reading, Writing and Seeking
    • Positional and Vector I/O
    • Standard I/O Library
    • Large File Support (LFS)
    • Labs
14. Advanced File Operations
    • Stat Functions
    • Directory Functions
    • inotify
    • Memory Mapping
    • flock() and fcntl()
    • Making Temporary Files
    • Other System Calls
    • Labs
15. Processes – I
    • What is a Process?
    • Process Limits
    • Process Groups
    • The proc Filesystem
    • Inter-Process Communication Methods
    • Labs
16. Processes – II
    • Using system() to Create a Process
    • Using fork() to Create a Process
    • Using exec() to Create a Process
    • Using clone()
    • Exiting
    • Constructors and Destructors
    • Waiting
    • Daemon Processes
    • Labs
17. Pipes and Fifos
    • Pipes and Inter-Process Communication
    • popen() and pclose()
    • pipe()
    • Named Pipes (FIFOs)
    • splice(), vmsplice() and tee()
    • Labs
18. Asynchronous I/O**
    • What is Asynchronous I/O?
    • The POSIX Asynchronous I/O API
    • Linux Implementation
    • Labs
19. Signals – I
    • What are Signals?
    • Signals Available
    • Dispatching Signals
    • Alarms, Pausing and Sleeping
    • Setting up a Signal Handler
    • Signal Sets
    • sigaction()
    • Labs
20. Signals – II
    • Reentrancy and Signal Handlers
    • Jumping and Non-Local Returns
    • siginfo and sigqueue()
    • Real Time Signals
    • Labs
21. POSIX Threads – I
    • Multi-threading under Linux
    • Basic Program Structure
    • Creating and Destroying Threads
    • Signals and Threads
    • Forking vs. Threading
    • Labs
22. POSIX Threads – II
    • Deadlocks and Race Conditions
    • Mutex Operations
    • Semaphores
    • Futexes
    • Conditional Operations
    • Labs
23. Networking and Sockets
    • Networking Layers
    • What are Sockets?
    • Stream Sockets
    • Datagram Sockets
    • Raw Sockets
    • Byte Ordering
    • Labs
24. Sockets – Addresses and Hosts
    • Socket Address Structures
    • Converting IP Addresses
    • Host Information
    • Labs
25. Sockets – Ports and Protocols
    • Service Port Information
    • Protocol Information
    • Labs
26. Sockets – Clients
    • Basic Client Sequence
    • socket()
    • connect()
    • close() and shutdown()
    • UNIX Client
    • Internet Client
    • Labs
27. Sockets – Servers
    • Basic Server Sequence
    • bind()
    • listen()
    • accept()
    • UNIX Server
    • Internet Server
    • Labs
28. Sockets – Input/Output Operations
    • write(), read()
    • send(), recv()
    • sendto(), recvfrom()
    • sendmsg(), recvmsg()
    • sendfile()
    • socketpair()
    • Labs
29. Sockets – Options
    • Getting and Setting Socket Options
    • fcntl()
    • ioctl()
    • getsockopt() and setsockopt()
    • Labs
30. Netlink Sockets**
    • What are netlink Sockets?
    • Opening a netlink Socket
    • netlink Messages
    • Labs
31. Sockets – Multiplexing and Concurrent Servers
    • Multiplexed and Asynchronous Socket I/O
    • select()
    • poll()
    • pselect() and ppoll()
    • epoll
    • Signal Driven and Asynchronous I/O
    • Concurrent Servers
    • Labs
32. Inter Process Communication
    • Methods of IPC
    • POSIX IPC
    • System V IPC**
    • Labs
33. Shared Memory
    • What is Shared Memory?
    • POSIX Shared Memory
    • System V Shared Memory**
    • Labs
34. Semaphores
    • What is a Semaphore?
    • POSIX Semaphores
    • System V Semaphores**
    • Labs
35. Message Queues
    • What are Message Queues?
    • POSIX Message Queues
    • System V Message Queues**
    • Labs
36. Closing and Evaluation Survey

** These sections may be considered in part or in whole as optional. They contain either background reference material, specialized topics, or advanced subjects. The instructor may choose to cover or not cover them depending on classroom experience and time constraints.