Ebook: VAX/VMS Internals and Data Structures: Version 4.4

The main topic of this book is the kernel of the VAX/VMS Version 4.4 operating system: process management; memory management; the I/O subsystem; the mechanisms that transfer control to, from, and among these,- and the system services that support and complement them.
In explaining the operation of a subsystem, this book emphasizes the data structures manipulated by that subsystem. Most of the operations of VMS can be more easily understood once the contents of the various data structures are known. The book also provides a detailed description of the flow of some major routines and annotated excerpts from certain key routines.
The intended readers are system programmers and other users of VAX/VMS who wish to understand its components, mechanisms, and data structures. For system programmers, the book provides technical background helpful in activities such as writing privileged utilities and system services.
Its detailed description of data structures should help system managers make better informed decisions when they configure systems for space - or time critical applications. It should also help application designers appreciate the effects (in speed or in memory consumption) of different design and implementation decisions.