Understanding the Linux Virtual Memory Manager

This book gives a detailed tour of the Linux VM as implemented in 2.4.22 and gives a solid introduction of what to expect in 2.6. As well as discussing the implementation, the theory that Linux VM is based on will also be introduced. This is not intended to be a memory management theory book, but understanding why the VM is implemented in a particular fashion is often much simpler if the underlying basis is known in advance. To complement the description, the appendices include a detailed code com- mentary on a significant percentage of the VM. This should drastically reduce the amount of time a developer or researcher needs to invest in understanding what is happening inside the Linux VM because VM implementations tend to follow similar code patterns even between major versions. This means that, with a solid under- standing of the 2.4 VM, the later 2.5 development VMs and the 2.6 final release will be decipherable in a number of weeks.