OS coding.....

Zach · December 12, 2007

Hello all, I would like to know what is the best programming language to use when making a Operating System? I want to make a very very very simple os like dos for starters. All suggestions would be wonderful.

:-)

SmoothCriminal · December 12, 2007

Hello all, I would like to know what is the best programming language to use when making a Operating System? I want to make a very very very simple os like dos for starters. All suggestions would be wonderful.
:-)

Why? So many OS's to choose from (many of them free), that will be many times better than yours. It is to much work for the results. Not to burst your bubble, but stick with what is out there. Do you fully understand how much work goes into an OS, DOS alone would take a very long time to make.

sablefoxx · December 12, 2007

Hello all, I would like to know what is the best programming language to use when making a Operating System? I want to make a very very very simple os like dos for starters. All suggestions would be wonderful.
:-)

To be honest, don't bother it can take teams of people with PHDs in Computer Science years to make an OS that does something other then print "Hello World", this is not a weekend project, its a lifetime project (for one person at least). It also sounds like you've never written a program before, start there (i maybe wrong and prejudice but thats what it looks like to me).

For example in the programming lang. C++ to simply print the words "Hello World" its this (Keep in mind this built on years of other programs, like Windows and Linux, you can't take this, burn it to a cd and boot from it):

#include &lt;iostream.h&gt;
int main()
{
    cout &lt;&lt; "Hello World!n";
    return 0;
}

cooper · December 12, 2007

As a research project or overall learning experience, writing your own OS can be very worthwhile.

It doesn't have to take long to make one. It just takes long to make a good one.

In this piece (Andrew Tannenbaum's response to the allegation that Linux was based on Minix) Andrew says:

Lampson had just finished describing the pioneering CTSS operating system and said, in his inimitable way: "Is there anybody here who couldn't write CTSS in a month?" Nobody raised his hand. I concluded that you'd have to be real dumb not to be able to write an operating system in a month. The paper cited above is an operating system I wrote at Berkeley with the help of Bill Benson. It took a lot more than a month, but I am not as smart as Butler. Nobody is.

I suspect you'll need to use some ASM for the bootloading, but the rest should be doable in either C or C++, and you can take it up from there.

sablefoxx · December 12, 2007

I suspect you'll need to use some ASM for the bootloading, but the rest should be doable in either C or C++, and you can take it up from there.

And ASM is NOT fun!!! You maybe able to find some out there on the tubes i guess. Still is gonna be very hard to do.

metatron · December 12, 2007

I suspect you'll need to use some ASM for the bootloading, but the rest should be doable in either C or C++, and you can take it up from there.

And ASM is NOT fun!!! You maybe able to find some out there on the tubes i guess. Still is gonna be very hard to do.

I like ASM. If your writing an OS you really have to be good with ASM and C you don't have to know everything but if you have the time you can work your way through it although it's likely not going to be usable, just use it for learning.

jollyrancher82 · December 12, 2007

lol.

cooper · December 12, 2007

And ASM is NOT fun!!! You maybe able to find some out there on the tubes i guess. Still is gonna be very hard to do.

1 word: V2OS.

Go google it or something.

K1u · December 13, 2007

Hello all, I would like to know what is the best programming language to use when making a Operating System? I want to make a very very very simple os like dos for starters. All suggestions would be wonderful.
:-)

Currently rofling (literally, not even kidding).

You act as if its something you can learn overnight. Just... wow... just research... ALOT...

SmoothCriminal · December 13, 2007

lol.

Sure have your fun, make fun all of us because we are not writing our own OS's. I'm going to go cry in the corner because you make me feel inadequate.

jollyrancher82 · December 13, 2007

'very very very simple OS like DOS'... DOS isn't very very very very simple.

For starters do you know assembly? If not, give up before you begin.

Do you know what real mode, protected mode, and other systems level terms mean? If not, give up before you begin.

A lot of work goes into an operating system, even a simple one.

K1u · December 13, 2007

'very very very simple OS like DOS'... DOS isn't very very very very simple.
For starters do you know assembly? If not, give up before you begin.

Do you know what real mode, protected mode, and other systems level terms mean? If not, give up before you begin.

A lot of work goes into an operating system, even a simple one.

Totally agree with TomB, if you are making topics like this you should give up. Even to have it your Operating System boot you must at least know intermediate to high amount of ASM.

If you are serious about actually doing this then follow the following links.

http://www.amazon.com/Operating-nbsp-Syste.../3JK0767J09TA8/

http://www.amazon.com/Sams-Teach-Yourself-.../dp/0672324482/

http://www.amazon.com/Assembly-nbsp-Langua.../1O8HQDOL94J14/

sablefoxx · December 13, 2007

And ASM is NOT fun!!! You maybe able to find some out there on the tubes i guess. Still is gonna be very hard to do.

1 word: V2OS.

Go google it or something.

V2_OS is an operating system written in pure Assembly language; most in 32-bit code, with a small amount of 16-bit code.

--Damn, that is some manly code!!!

Strife25 · December 13, 2007

you could check out a barebones OS called pintos, I know that is the OS i will be programming in my future undergraduate OS class at college.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pintos

snakey · December 13, 2007

i think most non-programmers just think they will wack a bunch of code together and have an operating system. don't work like that.

moonlit · December 13, 2007

you could check out a barebones OS called pintos, I know that is the OS i will be programming in my future undergraduate OS class at college.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pintos

Also see Menuet OS, it's a full desktop OS written in ASM.

deleted · December 14, 2007

It i very Difficult. I am attempting to Create on and I have been working of it for about 2 years, and it only looks like a colourful DOS prompts with 3 built in Commands. Im Sure TomB will say similar that its difficult

anyedie · December 20, 2007

as an alternative, why not take a look at LFS (linux from scratch).

Its not easy, and I dont think its quite what your looking for, but there are entire step by step guides to building your own linux distro, maybe this can satisfy your itch.

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

magicdanw · December 21, 2007

And ASM is NOT fun!!! You maybe able to find some out there on the tubes i guess. Still is gonna be very hard to do.

On the contrary, I find ASM lots of fun, mostly because of how strange it is to program. It forces the brain to stretch in different ways. I believe Dr. Frankenfurter said it best:

It's something you'll get used to. A mental mind-fuck can be nice.

jollyrancher82 · December 21, 2007

Assembly is fairly simple, it's programming one step at a time.

deleted · December 21, 2007

If you want a challenge you could try to do it in Brain-F**k

jollyrancher82 · December 21, 2007

You can't code an OS in Brainfuck unless you modified the available instructions in Brainfuck. Brainfuck can't interact with hardware, only it's array of bytes.

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