Chapter 3: System Programming Concepts

This chapter covers various topics that are prerequisites for system programming. We begin by introducing system calls and detailing the steps that occur during their execution. We then consider library functions and how they differ from system calls, and couple this with a description of the (GNU) C library.

Whenever we make a system call or call a library function, we should always check the return status of the call in order to determine if it was successful. We describe how to perform such checks, and present a set of functions that are used in most of the example programs in this book to diagnose errors from system calls and library functions.

We conclude by looking at various issues related to portable programming, specifically the use of feature test macros and the standard system data types defined by SUSv3.

3 System Programming Concepts
3.1 System Calls
3.2 Library Functions
3.3 The Standard C Library; The GNU C Library (glibc)
3.4 Handling Errors from System Calls and Library Functions
3.5 Notes on the Example Programs in This Book
        3.5.1 Command-line Options and Arguments
        3.5.2 Common Functions and Header Files
3.6 Portability Issues
        3.6.1 Feature Test Macros
        3.6.2 System Data Types
        3.6.3 Miscellaneous Portability Issues
3.7 Summary
3.8 Exercises