Systems and Network Programming for Embedded Linux

Overview
The course focuses on the system call API provided by the linux kernel to application software; that is, on the Linux "virtual machine" as defined by the POSIX standard (IEEE 1003.1). The course covers all major system programming features of Linux, from basic I/O operations to interprocess and network communications, to the exploitation of concurrency through the use of threads and processes.
Programs will be developed to run on PCs running SUSE or Debian Linux, and an ARM9 target board running ELinos Linux. However, the approach is generic and does not rely on features specific to any one Linux distribution.

Course Benefits
You will learn how to write well structured and efficient code that makes use of the POSIX API. You'll become proficient in the use of standard idioms and patterns for creating and managing multiple processes and threads, and in using the various inter-process communication mechanisms provided by the POSIX API for synchronising processes and threads. You'll also learn how to implement TCP/IP applications - both client and server side -- using the sockets API.

Course Contents
Getting Started

• Receiving command line arguments
• Accessing environment variables
• Reading and writing stdin and stdout
• How to detect and handle system call errors

Multiprocessing

• The memory model and life cycle of a process
• Creating processes with fork
• Executing programs with exec
• Waiting for process termination
• Returning and retrieving exit status

Multithreading

• The memory model and life cycle of a thread
• Creating threads with the pthreads API
• Waiting for thread termination
• How are threads and processes different?
• Synchronising access to shared data
• When to use multiple processes and threads

Basic I/O

• Low-level input and output
• Reading and writing files
• Changing file attributes
• Managing files and directories

Interprocess Communication

• Pipes
• Message queues
• Shared memory
• Semaphores

Signals

• What are signals for?
• Sending signals
• Ignoring and catching signals
• Writing signal handlers

Working with the Linux Security Model

• Changing file permissions and ownerships
• Accessing the user account database
• Setting the user identity of a process

Network Communication (IPv4)

• TCP/IP fundamentals
• Client/server programming
• Connection-oriented sockets
• Connectionless sockets
• Name resolution

Overview of IPv6 and network programming with IPv6 The Linux development environment

• The traditional build model
• Header files
• Automating rebuilds with make
• Writing platform-independent code with GNU configure
• Using Eclipse as an integrated C development enviromnent
• Debugging with gdb
• Overview of Autoconf and Automake
• Overview of Version Control using CVS or Subversion (SVN)
• Overview of Cross Compilers and Cross Compilation Tool Chains