The Best New Device Driver Development Books To Read In 2025

Unlock the Power of the Linux Kernel – The Ultimate Guide to Kernel Development with C. Are you ready to elevate your Linux programming skills? "Mastering Linux Kernel Development with C" is your essential guide to developing custom kernel modules, optimizing system performance, and creating device drivers that maximize the capabilities of Linux. From beginner-friendly instructions to advanced optimization techniques, this comprehensive guide reveals the core of Linux kernel development in a hands-on, easy-to-follow format. Inside, You’ll Discover:.

Step-by-Step Guide to Kernel Modules – Learn the essentials of writing, loading, and unloading kernel modules without rebooting your system.In-Depth Device Driver Development – Build and test your own character, block, and network device drivers.Debugging and Profiling Techniques – Tackle common debugging challenges with tools like printk, kgdb, perf, and ftrace.Memory Management and Synchronization – Master kernel memory allocation, data structures, and locking mechanisms.Performance Optimization Tips – Implement strategies to enhance system responsiveness and efficiency.Whether you're aiming to contribute to the open-source community, advance your career, or simply expand your knowledge, this book provides the solid foundation and advanced insights needed to succeed in Linux kernel development.

Gain both a firm practical understanding and sufficient theoretical insight into the inner workings of Linux kernel internals, learn to write high-quality kernel module code, understand the complexities of kernel synchronization. Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free eBook in PDF format.

Key FeaturesDiscover how to write Linux kernel and module code for real-world productsImplement industry-grade techniques in real-world scenarios for fast, efficient memory allocation and data synchronizationUnderstand and exploit kernel architecture, CPU scheduling, and kernel synchronization techniquesBook DescriptionThe 2nd Edition of Linux Kernel Programming is an updated, comprehensive guide for new programmers to the Linux kernel. This book uses the recent 6.1 Long-Term Support (LTS) Linux kernel series, which will be maintained until Dec 2026, and also delves into its many new features. Further, the Civil Infrastructure Project has pledged to maintain and support this 6.1 Super LTS (SLTS) kernel right until August 2033, keeping this book valid for years to come! You'll begin this exciting journey by learning how to build the kernel from source. In a step by step manner, you will then learn how to write your first kernel module by leveraging the kernel's powerful Loadable Kernel Module (LKM) framework. With this foundation, you will delve into key kernel internals topics including Linux kernel architecture, memory management, and CPU (task) scheduling. You'll finish with understanding the deep issues of concurrency, and gain insight into how they can be addressed with various synchronization/locking technologies (e.g., mutexes, spinlocks, atomic/refcount operators, rw-spinlocks and even lock-free technologies such as per-CPU and RCU). By the end of this book, you'll have a much better understanding of the fundamentals of writing the Linux kernel and kernel module code that can straight away be used in real-world projects and products. What you will learnConfigure and build the 6.1 LTS kernel from sourceWrite high-quality modular kernel code (LKM framework) for 6.x kernelsExplore modern Linux kernel architectureGet to grips with key internals details regarding memory management within the kernelUnderstand and work with various dynamic kernel memory alloc/dealloc APIsDiscover key internals aspects regarding CPU scheduling within the kernel, including cgroups v2Gain a deeper understanding of kernel concurrency issuesLearn how to work with key kernel synchronization primitivesWho this book is forThis book is for beginner Linux programmers and developers looking to get started with the Linux kernel, providing a knowledge base to understand required kernel internal topics and overcome frequent and common development issues. A basic understanding of Linux CLI and C programming is assumed. Table of ContentsLinux Kernel Programming - A Quick IntroductionBuilding the 6.x Linux Kernel from Source - Part 1Building the 6.x Linux Kernel from Source - Part 2Writing Your First Kernel Module - Part 1Writing Your First Kernel Module - Part 2Kernel Internals Essentials - Processes and ThreadsMemory Management Internals - EssentialsKernel Memory Allocation for Module Authors - Part 1Kernel Memory Allocation for Module Authors - Part 2The CPU Scheduler - Part 1The CPU Scheduler - Part 2Kernel Synchronization - Part 1Kernel Synchronization - Part 2.

The Raspberry Pi makes an ideal match for the Internet of Things. To put it to good use in IoT you need two areas of expertise, electronics and programming and this presents a barrier to getting started. However, there is an overlooked route that can provide a shortcut. Pi OS, the Raspberry Pi’s operating system is Linux based and Linux drivers are available for many off-the-shelf IoT devices. These provide a very easy-to-use, high-level way of working. The problem that this book solves is that there is very little documentation to help you get started.

In it Harry Fairhead explains the principles so that you can tackle new devices and he also guides you through using external hardware via standard Linux drivers. Throughout this book you will find a practical approach to understanding electronic circuits and datasheets and translating this to code, specifically using the C programming language. This second edition was prompted by the advent of the Pi 5, welcomed as the fastest member of the Raspberry Pi family. What came as a shock is that, from the point of view of IoT, it is incompatible with all other Raspberry Pis due to the use of a custom chip. Luckily, although the Pi 5 cannot work with the standard IoT libraries it does behave in the same way under Linux drivers and so this new book does include the Pi 5 on an equal footing. Coverage also includes the Pi Zero 2W, which has a quad-core chip making it more capable than both the original Pi Zero and the WiFi-enabled Pi ZeroW. After a quick tour of the Raspberry Pi ecosystem, Visual Studio Code (VS Code) and how it can be used to develop remotely, is introduced. The first IoT program anyone writes is “blinky” to flash an LED and this book is no exception, but it might not be quite what you expect. Instead of using a GPIO line it uses the Linux LED driver – no hardware and no fuss. The GPIO isn’t left out, however, as the next three chapters focus on its use via the new GPIO character driver. A key component in any look at Linux and its relationship to hardware is the device tree. While most accounts of this resource are aimed at device driver writers, this one is aimed at device driver users and to this end we look at the DHT22 temperature and humidity driver. After a brief detour into some basic electronics, we look at Pulse Width Modulation supported via a driver rather than needing to be implemented using the GPIO. From here we tackle the two standard buses, I2C and SPI, first going through the basics and then looking at the two attempts to impose a higher organization, the hardware monitoring system, hwmon, and Industrial I/O, IIO. We also look at the 1-Wire bus. The final chapter takes things to the next level and considers creating your own custom overlays by writing fragments to the device tree. Harry Fairhead has worked with microprocessors and electronics in general for many years and is an enthusiastic proponent of the IoT. C is his programming language of choice and he has written several books on programming the Raspberry Pi and other devices in an IOT context, including Raspberry Pi IoT In C, 3rd Edition, Programming the Raspberry Pi Pico/W in C, 2nd Edition, Programming the ESP32 in MicroPython and Fundamental C: Getting Closer To The Machine.