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UNIX System Call

Core UNIX/POSIX system calls providing low-level operating system interfaces for process management, file operations, interprocess communication, and system control.

11 APIs 10 Features
C-ApiIeee-1003KernelOpen-GroupOperating-SystemPosixSystem-CallsUnix

APIs

File System Operations API

System calls for file and directory manipulation, including open, read, write, and file descriptor management.

Process Management API

System calls for process creation, execution, termination, and control.

Interprocess Communication API

System calls for communication between processes including pipes, signals, and shared memory.

Memory Management API

System calls for memory allocation, mapping, and protection.

System Information API

System calls for retrieving system information and configuration.

POSIX Threads API

POSIX threads (pthreads) interface for creating and managing threads, mutexes, condition variables, and thread-specific data.

I/O Multiplexing API

System calls for monitoring multiple file descriptors for readiness, enabling event-driven and non-blocking I/O patterns.

POSIX Semaphores API

POSIX named and unnamed semaphore interfaces for process and thread synchronization.

POSIX Message Queues API

POSIX message queue interfaces for exchanging messages between processes with priority support.

Terminal and Device I/O API

POSIX terminal interface (termios) and device control system calls for managing terminals, serial ports, and device parameters.

File Locking API

POSIX advisory file locking interfaces for coordinating file access between processes.

Features

File system operations and file descriptor management
Process creation, execution, and control
Interprocess communication via pipes, signals, and sockets
Memory mapping and virtual memory management
POSIX threads for concurrent programming
I/O multiplexing with select and poll
Named and unnamed semaphores
Message queues for async process communication
Terminal and device I/O control
Advisory file locking

Use Cases

Operating system development
Systems programming and embedded systems
Network server and daemon development
High-performance I/O applications
Concurrent and multi-threaded programming
Device driver and hardware interface development

Integrations

Linux kernel
macOS / Darwin
FreeBSD
GNU C Library (glibc)
musl libc
POSIX-compliant operating systems

Resources

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Documentation
Documentation
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Documentation
Documentation
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Documentation
Documentation
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GettingStarted
GettingStarted
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Resources
Resources
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APIReference
APIReference
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Documentation
Documentation