Lecture 1 Summary

• Understanding the relationship between a programming language and contemporary operating systems is central to developing many skills in Computer Science.

• This unit introduces the C11 programming language, and fundamental operating system concepts such as processes, memory management, file-systems, and operating system services.

• Following standards is critical to developing robust, portable, and easy to maintain systems programs. This unit makes constant reference to the C11 and POSIX standards.

• Debates over which is the best programming language are pointless. Of greatest importance is choosing and understanding a programming language well-suited for the systems or application domain.

• Despite its age, C is very deliberately introduced as a vehicle to explain systems-programming, because of its history and influence on other languages, simplicity, continued widespread use, standardisation, and portability.

• Similarly, POSIX is introduced because of its widespread use, consistency, standardisation, and portability.