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<concept id="GUID-DC8D3736-EDCF-54CB-A614-2AAC4664F1CA" xml:lang="en"><title>Kernel-Side Services</title><shortdesc>This section describes how device drivers can use the services

that the Kernel provides. </shortdesc><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>

<p>The section begins with a discussion of the APIs for fundamental types

such as buffers and arrays. Kernel side programs cannot use all of the same

APIs as user-side programs, so you need to be aware of these restrictions,

and the alternative APIs provided by the Kernel. </p>

<p>The guide then discusses a number of idioms for communicating between different

threads and processes, including Publish and Subscribe, Kernel-side messages,

shared chunks, and environment slots. </p>

<p>Some more advanced programming issues are then discussed, including how

to design a device driver to behave correctly in a demand paged OS environment,

in which client programs may not be continuously in memory, and how to integrate

a device driver with system wide power resource management. </p>

<p>The section ends with a discussion of how Kernel APIs encourage safe programming

with the use of precondition checks. </p>