Operating System Concepts

Operating System Theory

Operating Systems (3rd Edition)

Format: Hardcover
Author: Harvey M. Deitel
ReleaseDate: 12 December, 2003
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Rating:

Very good introduction to operating systems
I used this book in an undergraduate operating systems course and found it to be very useful. If you are a fan of the other Deitel books, you will probably like this one as well. I later used the "dinosaurs" book (Silberschatz et al. ) in a graduate course and was quite disappointed by the lack of detail.

One minor complaint is that this book is quite verbose, so one tends to get a little tired reading it. On the other hand, all of the details are what make this book a very good introductory text. My complaint about the "dinosaur" book is the lack of details and lack of verbosity.

In defense of the use of Java that other reviewers have complained about, I'm guessing that the writers wanted to use a language that their target audience (college undergrads) would most likely be familiar with. Also, using threads in Java is much easier than in some "OS-friendly" language like 'C'. As a way of demonstrating concepts, Java works quite well.

Good intention != good implementation!
However, the plethora of ancilliary information and cliche side-notes, mini-case-studies make what could've been a bar-non primer into a dreadful book. As many other reviewers have mentioned, this book has good content and very well written. Even though I particularly think that OS is one of the bastions of computer science and thus I think it's a very interesting field, the authors totally missed their target audience insofar as design and layout is concerned! Additionally, this book is peculiar in that it tries to teach some OS examples using (of all possible languages) Java! What gives? Even my teacher (who usually defends this book) was upset about that one. And little by little the author manage to get a book you liked at the beginning of the semester into this horrendous text you don't even want to glance into. I gave three stars, because I do think that the content in the first five six chapters is really well explained and supported. . . overall. . . buy it if you must!.

Well written, but overstuffed with unnecessary material
It's written in clear, plain language, with helpful illustrations and code examples. There are some good things to say about this book. Key terms are highlighted and defined concisely.

Unfortunately there are many more bad things to say about it.

Let's face it, this subject is about as exciting as counting freckles. The book's designers have tried to liven things up by suggesting in the book's appearance an old notebook of Leonardo da Vinci. The baroque ugliness of the book's design has already been mentioned by other reviewers.

The authors have tried to liven things up by including anecdotes, biographical sketches, mini-case studies, and other sidebar material. It's a good-hearted but wrong-headed effort. None of this material is necessary, and it only serves to make a long story longer. The book is over 1200 pages long. The last thing a college student needs in his backpack is more weight to carry around all day. And who's actually going to read this stuff? (Hmm, let's see. . . what to do with my study time? fix my data structures code? perpare for my Calc exam? no, I think I'll read some speculation about the origin of the word "glitch". )

It isn't just the sidebar fluff that pads the book's length. A typical chapter finishes up with a two-page summary, four pages of glossary (unnecessary if you've read the chapter, where the terms are already defined and set in colored type), four pages of exercises , and four pages of bibliography. Yes, a bibliography is appended to each chapter. I am not talking a simple "suggested for further reading". I am talking works cited, 100 or more per chapter. In one case the bib is 13 pages long, with over 400 citations. Who is this for? How many undergraduate students are going to pursue these references?

The makers of this book have employed some crafty strategies to pad their work. Likely to go unnoticed is the redundant fifty-page glossary at the very end of the book, in case you missed the ones at the end of each chapter. The book's table of contents is unnecessarily detailed, with an entry for chapter headings, subdivisions, sub-subdivisions, as well as each sidebar. Next comes a list of every illustration and code example. In case you need to find one fast, or something. There follows a twenty-page preface which details the book's features, and includes a "Tour of the Book", an overview of the eight parts and 21 chapters of the book. The book's actual text doesn't get started until 66 pages in.

I'm guessing this sort of content goes over well with textbook committees, because it means they don't have to read the book to get a sense of its content. I can imagine no other reason to include it unless it is to drive up the price of the book.