Book Image

Hands-On System Programming with C++

By : Dr. Rian Quinn
Book Image

Hands-On System Programming with C++

By: Dr. Rian Quinn

Overview of this book

C++ is a general-purpose programming language with a bias toward system programming as it provides ready access to hardware-level resources, efficient compilation, and a versatile approach to higher-level abstractions. This book will help you understand the benefits of system programming with C++17. You will gain a firm understanding of various C, C++, and POSIX standards, as well as their respective system types for both C++ and POSIX. After a brief refresher on C++, Resource Acquisition Is Initialization (RAII), and the new C++ Guideline Support Library (GSL), you will learn to program Linux and Unix systems along with process management. As you progress through the chapters, you will become acquainted with C++'s support for IO. You will then study various memory management methods, including a chapter on allocators and how they benefit system programming. You will also explore how to program file input and output and learn about POSIX sockets. This book will help you get to grips with safely setting up a UDP and TCP server/client. Finally, you will be guided through Unix time interfaces, multithreading, and error handling with C++ exceptions. By the end of this book, you will be comfortable with using C++ to program high-quality systems.

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Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Getting Started with System Programming
Getting Started with System Programming
Technical requirements
Understanding system calls
Benefits of using C++ when system programming
Summary
Questions
Further reading
2
Learning the C, C++17, and POSIX Standards
Learning the C, C++17, and POSIX Standards
Technical requirements
Beginning with the C standard language
Learning about the C++ standard
Beginning with the POSIX standard
Summary
Questions
Further reading
3
System Types for C and C++
System Types for C and C++
Technical requirements
Exploring C and C++ default types
Learning standard integer types
Summary
Questions
Further reading
4
C++, RAII, and the GSL Refresher
C++, RAII, and the GSL Refresher
Technical requirements
A brief overview of C++17
Resource Acquisition Is Initialization (RAII)
The Guideline Support Library (GSL)
Summary
Questions
Further Reading
5
Programming Linux/Unix Systems
Programming Linux/Unix Systems
Technical requirements
The Linux ABI
The Unix filesystem
Unix processes
Unix signals
Summary
Questions
Further reading
6
Learning to Program Console Input/Output
Learning to Program Console Input/Output
Technical requirements
Learning about stream-based IO
Beginning with user-defined types
Learning about manipulators
Recreating the echo program
Understanding the Serial Echo server example
Summary
Questions
Further reading
7
A Comprehensive Look at Memory Management
A Comprehensive Look at Memory Management
Technical requirements
Learning about the new and delete functions
Understanding smart pointers and ownership
Learning about mapping and permissions
Learning importance of memory fragmentation
Summary
Questions
Further reading
8
Learning to Program File Input/Output
Learning to Program File Input/Output
Technical requirements
Opening a file
Reading and writing to a file
Understanding file utilities
Understanding the logger example
Learning about the tail file example
Comparing C++ versus mmap benchmark
Summary
Questions
Further reading
9
A Hands-On Approach to Allocators
A Hands-On Approach to Allocators
Technical requirements
Introducing the C++ allocators
Studying an example of stateless, cache–aligned allocator
Studying an example of a stateful, memory–pool allocator
Summary
Questions
Further reading
10
Programming POSIX Sockets Using C++
Programming POSIX Sockets Using C++
Technical requirements
Beginning with POSIX sockets
Beginning with APIs
Studying an example on the UDP echo server
Studying an example on the TCP echo server
Exploring an example on TCP Logger
Trying out an example for processing packets
Processing an example of processing JSON
Summary
Questions
Further reading
11
Time Interfaces in Unix
Time Interfaces in Unix
Technical requirements
Learning about POSIX time.h APIs
Exploring C++ Chrono APIs
Studying an example on the read system clock
Studying an example on high-resolution timer
Summary
Questions
Further reading
12
Learning to Program POSIX and C++ Threads
Learning to Program POSIX and C++ Threads
Technical requirements
Understanding POSIX threads
Exploring C++ threads
Studying an example on parallel computation
Studying an example on benchmarking with threads
Studying an example on thread logging
Summary
Questions
Further reading
13
Error – Handling with Exceptions
Error – Handling with Exceptions
Technical requirements
Error handling POSIX-style
Learning about set jump exceptions
Understanding exception support in C++
Studying an example on exception benchmark
Summary
Questions
Further reading
14
Assessments
Assessments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
15
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Recreating the echo program

In this hands-on example, we will be recreating the popular echo program found on almost all POSIX systems. The echo program takes all of the input provided to the program and echoes it back to stdout. This program is very simple, with the following program options:

  • -n: Prevents echo from outputting a newline on exit
  • --help: Prints the Help menu
  • --version: Prints some version information

There are two other options, -e and -E; we have omitted them here to keep things simple, but, if desired, would serve as a unique exercise for the reader.

To see the full sources for this example, please see the following: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Hands-On-System-Programming-with-CPP/blob/master/Chapter06/example1.cpp.

The main function presented here is a useful pattern to add to all programs and deviates slightly from the original echo program as exceptions...

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