xv7 - A C++ re-implementation of xv6

Project Overview

This is a UNIX kernel programming passion project. The hope is to gain hands on system programming experience by re-creating a lightweight OS called xv6. Obviously, I want to add my own twist and make my life harder, which is why I want to re-implement xv6 in C++. This will help me understand whether an object-oriented language like C++ makes sense in terms of building an OS. This might sound stupid, but projects are meant to be fun and stupid, especially my projects! Below is the roadmap and what I would gain throughout the development of this project.

What is xv6?

xv6 is a re-implementation of Dennis Ritchie's and Ken Thompson's Unix Version 6 (v6). xv6 loosely follows the structure and style of v6, but is implemented for a modern x86-based multiprocessor using ANSI C.

What is xv7?

xv6 with C++ (plus plus) is xv7. Did you get it? Haha...

Roadmap

• [x] Read through Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces and xv6 manual
• [x] Completely understand the xv6 source code line by line
• [ ] Work on xv6 exercises and OSTEP projects
• [ ] Starting designing xv7
• [ ] Implement xv7
• [ ] Convert build system to CMake
• [ ] Benchmark xv6 vs xv7 using LMBench

Stretch goals

• [ ] Write a network stack
• [ ] Re-implement xv7 base on ARM architecture

What I expect to learn from this project

• How an OS works?
  • how an OS boots
  • CPU virtualization
  • Memory virtualization
  • Concurrency
  • Filesystem
  • Device drivers
    • char, block, and net drivers
• C and C++ programming
• Whether OOP makes sense for an OS
• x86 architecture
• make and CMake
• GCC and GDB
• How to benchmark an OS

Resources I would be using

• Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces
• xv6 manual
• xv6 source code
• Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces Projects
• LMBench paper

Acknowledgements

The code in the files that constitute xv6 is Copyright 2006-2018 Frans Kaashoek, Robert Morris, and Russ Cox.