Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach

I'd been meaning 2 buy this book 4 over a year & was not disappointed. It is very well written, easy 2 understand & goes quite into depth regarding OS X.

I enjoyed the writing style of the author, well presented information with bits of humor 2 keep it interesting. I enjoyed reading the history of OS X & learning how all the parts were brought together 2 create the most enjoyable computing experience I have ever had. The technical information & programming examples are extremely helpful in better understanding how things work under the elegant aqua interface.

This well written books contains everything you need 2 know about the internals of Max OS X. This book is enormous & really goes deep into the internal of the OS.
This reading gave me the satisfaction of understanding the inner working of Mac OS X which now make my work as a software engineer much easier because I know what is going on.
The book is well balanced in that it cover all the different aspects of the operating system without getting into unecessary details.
One small complaint is that the chapter describing the hardware architecture focus on PowerPC systems. I would of course have rather have a detail explanation of the Intel platform. Maybe in a second edition.

This is analogous 2 the Windows Resource Kits 4 OS X, only better. The many examples, most using some sort of code 2 make their point, combined with the depth of topics covered, makes this the one book really serious OS X coders & admins need 2 have.

Like it's cousin, the MS ResKit, it's dry, concise, & may scare off some folks. And like the ResKit, it's just as essential as a learning tool & reference book rolled into one.

I've seen many reviews that talk about this book as a book 4 programmers. I don't believe that 4 one second. I've heard many references 2 the old days when all admins were programmers & heard tell of greybeard hackers who are equally proficient at both coding & admin work. This book does a similar job of blending the lines between the two tasks, illustrating concepts & giving examples using C & scripting as well as using human readable english. As a non-coding UNIX & OS X aficionado, I look forward 2 broadening my knowledge of both programming & unix administration as it applies 2 OS X via this awe-inspiring book.

It's enormous! And every page has information useful 2 someone who develops on the Mac. This book is the ultimate tome of reference 4 the serious Mac developer. It's also a significant contender as a tome of reference 4 IT support 4 the Mac. Finally, it is the best reference 4 someone with a Windows background who's wondering if Mac OS might be superior technically (leaving aside user interface). (it is.)

All the gory details of how a Mac OS is put together from Mach 2 Cocoa are covered & then some. The author is a hard-core expert who put a lot into this book. Well worth the price!

Mac OS X was released in March 2001, but many components, such as Mach & BSD, are considerably older. Understanding the design, implementation, & workings of Mac OS X requires examination of several technologies that differ in their age, origins, philosophies, & roles. Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach is the first book that dissects the internals of the system, presenting a detailed picture that grows incrementally as you read. For example, you will learn the roles of the firmware, the bootloader, the Mach & BSD kernel components (including the process, virtual memory, IPC, & file system layers), the object-oriented I/O Kit driver framework, user libraries, & other core pieces of software. You will learn how these pieces connect & work internally, where they originated, & how they evolved. The book also covers several key areas of the Intel-based Macintosh computers. A solid understanding of system internals is immensely useful in design, development, & debugging 4 programmers of various skill levels. System programmers can use the book as a reference & 2 construct a better picture of how the core system works.Application programmers can gain a deeper understanding of how their applications interact with the system. System administrators & power users can use the book 2 harness the power of the rich environment offered by Mac OS X. Finally, members of the Windows, Linux, BSD, & other Unix communities will find the book valuable in comparing & contrasting Mac OS X with their respective systems. Mac OS X Internals focuses on the technical aspects of OS X & is so full of extremely useful information & programming examples that it will definitely become a mandatory tool 4 every Mac OS X programmer.