I am trying to learn a little about driver development and my question is, which OS has an easier API to develop drivers with? Windows or Linux?
Remember that I am new to this.
Thanks
If you are doing this for learning (I guess its your case), then go for Linux, you will have a more general ideal on how an OS works, you will interact with low level implementation straight to the core.
If you are just writing a driver for a device, I recommend using Visual Studio under Windows, it has a lot of features that will really help on your devel.
I am pretty sure you'll get lots of Windows vs Linux war here, unfortunately.
On Windows, you'll get pretty good development tools, with some awkward stuff, but that you can get along with easily. API is documented provided you have access to a Windows Developer account. Remote debugging is supported and it helps a lot for these kernel stuff that are triggering BSOD so quickly.
On Linux, you'll need to get your hands more dirty. Rubini's "Linux Device Drivers" is a very good starting point. Openness will bring you more flexibility, and more understanding of what is happening.
This tutorial might be helpful.
It is about writing a simple device driver for linux.
My personal idea is Linux. You can see the entire code other than an API.
I think Windows is good.
Because it has a rich set of API's which is easier to use
Related
I need to port an application (written in XE2) to Mac.
My application is split into a simple UI executable (single-threaded) and an invisible engine (which heavily relies on OmniThreadLibrary 3.02 and Cromis DirectoryWatch)
Both EXEs communicate via Cromis.IPC
This is to say that I mainly have issues with these 3 components (OmniThreadLibrary, Cromis IPC & DirectoryWatch)
My focus right now is the Engine, which has most of the code.
My question is: Is there something similar to OmniThreadLibrary, Cromis DirectoryWatch & Cromis.IPC for Mac? (Whether with lazarus or XE2 with Mac as a target compiler)
The answer will help me a lot in deciding whether I should use Delphi XE2 or Lazarus (an IDE which I'm not familiar at all with) and see what's the best long term approach to offer/support both Windows & Mac with the minimum headaches
I am answering the part of your question dealing with compiler /IDE. I've used Lazarus and I must say that it won't take you too long to get up to speed (except for your exact requirements). Lazarus is getting more and more professional; a number of the developers are professional Delphi / XE2 coders by day. I think since you want to make your application available on Mac, you are going to have some work cut out anyway. But, it you decide to use Lazarus, you can for the most part build applications for Linux, Mac, and Windows without much effort ... most things just build right for each of the platforms from the same mostly unmodified source. Of course, as you say, your code heavily leans on OTL With OTL being a windows only library, I think you are going to have your work cut out for you. (read ... you might have to write an equivalent library yourself, or have someone do it for you) As for Chromis Directory watch, I haven't found anything yet.
I hope this helps a bit. CHEERS
This Lazarus tutorial shows that threading functionality built in. I am unaware of an equivalent library for what you are searching for. CHEERS
Greetings , I have a few questions that need experts' help to demystify it.
Question:
1.)Can a GUI be created without using any framework or API like GDI and DirectX??
2.)How microsoft develop the GUI environment for his OS??
3.)Is it possible that I could get knowledge about creating a GUI which run during booting without relying on an OS??Does it require any special tools which we do not own at home but is available in microsoft??
4.)Any book recommended for me to know more about GUI development of OS like windows and linux??
Thanks for spending time reading my question , your help is much appreciated
I'm not an expert on this field but to my knowledge:
Without considering your question #3, Yes, use a programming language (PL), but if you consider PL's as framework then NO, or even if it's possible, it is certainly not practical. Even Assembly (machine language) is a programming language.
To help understand the answer to this question, I suggest you read what an operating system is and how it is created. MS Windows (depending on the version) is written using PL: C, C++, C#, and Assembly. They used what we consider now as "low-level" programming to create their GUI's.
I find this question conflicting, I believe you need an OS to run a GUI. Because an operating system is responsible for connecting your hardware together (e.g. where to output the display, where to get the inputs like keyboard and mouse, etc). If you want, create an OS yourself but again, I find this very impractical. What you can do is start learning how to create GUI from Linux or even build your own minimalistic OS from Linux from Scratch. I recommended Linux because it's free and mature (relatively stable, has tons of documentation and internet references)!
I can't recommend any specific book, but types of book: Programming Languages and Operating Systems. Also, you can find all the resources you need on the internet. You just need to know exactly what questions you are looking an answer for.
But if you simply want to create a GUI that can run on most Operating Systems, this has been the aim of Java. Java uses a virtual machine to do this. Of course there are other options too, you can research about it. If it's already available that suits your needs and it's legally free, use it. It will save you a lot of effort. :)
In a nutshell, I want to write my own device driver for windows, so that I can emulate a piece of hardware. I know very little about writing device drivers for windows, but I have a very firm understanding of the C and C++ languages, and I know enough x86(_64) assembly to get around.
I'm not really sure how one would go about even compiling a device driver, or what is required to create one. I'm certainly not against coding the entire thing in assembly if that needs to be done, but does it?
I'd like to do this using Windows tools obviously, I'm planning on trying to put it together using a windows GCC compiler, but I've got access to Visual Studio if that's needed. Can someone point me at resources that would be helpful, like reference manuals, tutorials, specs?
Oh: My target OS here is Windows 7, 64bit, which if I understand should be the same as Windows Vista 64bit, but correct my wrongness if it exists.
Thanks.
Everything you need to build your driver (including the compiler) comes from the WDK. Everything you need to know what to write comes from Walter Oney's books. Be prepared for a rough ride.
I've been using MacBook Pro for a few months at home, and I was wondering if there's a good book or guide that can help me be a better programmer on Mac. Maybe Mac-equivalent of Beginning Linux Programming. Note I am not looking for resource on how to program Mac application, instead I am looking for more general guide of using Mac for general development environment.
As a background, I am a Windows programmer by day. I've also done some Linux and BSD over the years, esp in school, like socket programming, graphics, make install type stuff. At home, I'll be doing Java, Scala, PHP, etc. on Mac.
So far, I've been using Eclipse, QuickSilver, and TextMate. VMWare Fusion, XCode and NetBeans are set up, but I don't use them. A DVI KVM switch is hooked up to real keyboard, trackball, and monitor. Recently stayed up till late fighting with MacPorts, and figured out I needed x86_64. The most struggle I had was configuring PHP. I don't know why they don't ship with MySQL and GD library. I eventually figured it out Googling around, and built the extensions from source. I have a feeling that I didn't get the memo and didn't read some basic guide on how to become a programmer on Mac, like how the whole architecture works. How can a Windows programmer be sufficiently productive on Mac OS X?
Related: Setting up a Mac for programmers
Edit: The specific type of application I want to develop doesn't really matter in my opinion. It could be Java, Scala, PHP as I mentioned or Cocoa, C++, or whatever.
What I am looking for is specific book, resource, advice on how to be more effective programmer on Mac, preferably something beyond "install XYZ".
Having converted from Windows to Mac OS X about five years ago, I often find myself thinking the same thing. I just cannot be productive on Windows (as much, I can be productive) as I can on Mac OS X.
To be honest, there are lots of small differences between Mac OS X and Windows. I find the biggest reason for people thinking like this (at it normally only applies to gamers and developers) is that they are trying to use the Mac like a Windows machine. You need to learn to accept that you have to use the command key, not the control key, etc.
It sounds like you are using a Mac because you have to as opposed to because you want to. It really is a much better platform than Windows once you get used to it.
I think a lot of Windows programmers come to Mac and don't try to learn it properly because they are complacent thinking they know it all because they have "used Windows all their life". I guess once you discover Spotlight, Expose, Mac OS X Keyboard shortcuts, etc. You will find your self being MUCH more productive that you ever were on Windows.... and its actually a fun OS to use.
Checkout some of the best Mac applications you can get here and here. You can also do a search for "top 100 mac apps".
Also, I noticed you were trying to setup some kind of web server directly into Mac OS X. It does ship with one, but if you are going to add MySQL and some other extensions I wouldn't go the MacPorts route. Get VMWare Fusion or VirtualBox (open source) and run the server in a VM. Much cleaner. I have a subversion/trac FreeBSD VM that handles my local version control.
I would like to add that if you don't presently use Xcode, you should definitely learn it and use it asap. It's a much nicer IDE to use than Visual Studio and it will make your life much easier.
Don't forget you have probably spent years on Windows help sites, you're going to a small degree need to do that with the Mac. Whenever you have a problem about using the Mac, ask a question on ServerFault. We are all more than eager to help you out.
Good luck.
You seem to want an overview of how Mac OS X works at a system level, more than recomenations about tools and so forth. If that's the case, I'd start with the (very basic) Mac OS X System Architecture Guide from Apple, then move on to Getting Started with Mac OS X, which should give you enough of an overview to get started.
It's not clear from your question what you intend to actually make with your programming time, but if you decide to persue Cocoa/OS X development, I recommend Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X by Aaron Hillegass.
I have a similar situation like yours. I use Windows for development and about a year back purchased a MBP for home (as I shifted to an office). I find it really difficult to get any real work done on my MBP. Somehow am used to the Windows environment with dual screens. But let that not stop you. A couple of software which I suggest you should get are:
Transmit - Good ftp client
MAMP - Runs a webserver nearly out-of-the-box. Good for basic development
Quicksilver - Helps in quick finding of applications
Spaces along with gestures (Configure your gestures to move from one screen to another, I use three fingers glide. its amazing)
Entourage - for email
Terminal - for ssh (putty alternative) (included)
Dreamweaver/BBedit/Textmate (all pretty decent. but i love editplus on windows. not a fan of IDE)
I assume your question is not about learning COCOA and more about being more effective using a MAC. Well, the above tools might help you.
Unfortunately, your question isn't very clear as to what you really want.
If you're looking to write anything cross-platform, it can be very helpful to have a virtual machine for testing. When in Linux, I've always used VirtualBox, and it works on OS X as well.
Also, as for choice of IDE, a lot of it comes down to your preference. Eclipse is nice because there's a plugin for almost everything for it. My experience with TextMate is limited, but my local Ruby Users Group swears by it.
Finally, a suggestion for not just Mac, but any platform really. Learn your hotkeys, set up new ones for things you commonly do, and use them frequently. Not having to take your hands off the keyboard to click a mouse through a few menus can really improve productivity. It may take a little time for them to grow on you, but once they become second nature, you'll wonder how you lived without them.
Basically, you can apply all your Linux/UNIX knowledge that you already have to the Mac. If you use the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) you can run all your favorite UNIX commands. Mac has a special command called "open" which is equivalent to the Windows "start" command (used to launch programs and files). You can also use "open -a" to open an application by name (e.g. "open -a Finder").
You might want to reconsider Xcode. Xcode opens more quickly than Eclipse and provides very good syntax highlighting, brace matching, block indenting, and more. Xcode doesn't have to be used as an IDE, you can also use it as a code editor, just like you are currently using TextMate.
For code editing (and everything else), try Aquamacs (http://www.aquamacs.org). It's a Cocoa-native build of Emacs, and it's brilliant for any programming task.
For certain programs nothing beats the command line. Unfortunately, I have never seen good documentation or examples on how to write console applications that go beyond "Hello World". I'm interested in making console apps like Vim or Emacs. Well not exactly like Vim or Emacs but one that takes over the entire command prompt while it is in use and then after you exit it leaves no trace behind. I know that on Unix there is the curses library but for Windows? ...
PDCurses works on Win32.
I found List of Console Functions on msdn, PDCurses, and The Console Module.
You can certainly write that kind of application with Delphi, which has reasonable commandline support. People often overlook that Delphi can build any kind of Windows executable, not just GUI apps.
I don't know off-hand if the free 'Turbo' edition of Delphi has anything cobbled into it to PREVENT you from using it to build console apps - I would have thought it would be fine for this kind of thing.
There is a small but good tutorial on using C++ for the Windows console at www.benryves.com/tutorials/?t=winconsole&c=all going as far as coding a simple painting program.
You could also try Free Pascal. It is a free ((L)GPL) Object Pascal compiler which is compatible with the Delphi-compiler. It has an console-based IDE, which proves that you can make very good console-applications with it, and which you can use as an example.
If you want to use a graphical IDE to build your console-application, you can download the Lazarus IDE.
As a bonus your application will run on Windows (32/64 bit), Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Solaris etc...
In Windows or DOS, I used the conio library from Borland. It's very old but fine enough for a beginner like me.
As Robsoft says Delphi would be a good start. There is Turbo Delphi (Pascal based) or Turbo C++ both free editions.
web site here.
http://www.turboexplorer.com/
Check out some of the mono libs. They have a great one to parse command line arguments but can't remember the namespace.
Miguel just posted some terminal code as well.
For ncurses-like library/framework on Windows, I'll highly suggest to get your hand dirty with PDCurses.
If you trying/using C#, there's Curses-Sharp.
This is the best tool for it I've ever seen!!
1) Create any application using VB6 IDE
2) Convert it to Console Application, using THIS!