The new edition of Understanding the Linux Kernel takes you on a guided tour through the most significant data structures, many algorithms, and programming tricks used in the kernel. The book has been updated to cover version 2.4 of the kernel, which is quite different from version 2.2: the virtual memory system is entirely new, support for multiprocessor systems is improved, and whole new classes of hardware devices have been added. You'll learn what conditions bring out Linux's best performance, and how it meets the challenge of providing good system response during process scheduling, file access, and memory management in a wide variety of environments