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Book List: Recommended Reading for Embedded Linux Kernel Learning

Organized by learning stage, with recommended timing, focus areas, and availability for each book. Principle: theory books build the foundation, hands-on books go to real hardware, source code is the ultimate documentation.

Quick Book Guide​

Your Current QuestionCheck This First
How a kernel mechanism worksLinux Kernel Development by Robert Love
How to use a specific APILDD3 (free) or Linux Device Driver Development by Song Baohua
Specific devm_/regmap/IIO APIsLinux Device Driver Development by Madieu
i.MX6ULL pin/clock configi.MX6ULL Reference Manual (NXP official)
H618 relatedsunxi community wiki + Allwinner SDK docs
Performance troubleshootingLinux Performance Optimization in Practice by Ni Pengfei
Kernel synchronization/lockingPaul McKenney's free book

Table of Contents​

Layer 1: Kernel Principles (Theoretical Foundation)​

Read through before starting. Refer back as needed.

1. Linux Kernel Development, 3rd Edition — Robert Love​

  • Chinese edition: Translated by Chen Lijun et al., China Machine Press
  • Recommended timing: Read through before starting; refer back by chapter during corresponding tasks
  • Content: Process management, memory management, VFS, interrupts, kernel synchronization, timers. Comprehensive but not deep. Great for building the big picture.
  • Pages: ~440, fast-paced, quick to read through
  • Availability: Print; English PDF legally available on archive.org
  • Key chapters:
    • Ch.1–2: Kernel intro, getting started
    • Ch.6: Kernel data structures (list_head, rbtree)
    • Ch.7–8: Interrupts and bottom halves
    • Ch.12: Memory management
    • Ch.17: Device model and sysfs

2. Understanding the Linux Kernel, 3rd Edition — Daniel P. Bovet, Marco Cesati​

  • Chinese edition: Translated by Chen Lijun, Zhang Qiongsheng, China Electric Power Press
  • Recommended timing: When you want to dig deeper into a specific mechanism
  • Content: 3x deeper than LKD. Interrupts, memory management, process scheduling, filesystems — every mechanism traced down to assembly level
  • Pages: ~900, not meant for cover-to-cover reading, best as a reference book
  • Note: Based on kernel 2.6, some implementation details have changed, but the principles still apply
  • Key chapters:
    • Ch.4: Interrupts and exceptions
    • Ch.8: Memory management (buddy system, slab)
    • Ch.3: Processes, understanding task_struct

3. Professional Linux Kernel Architecture — Wolfgang Mauerer​

  • Chinese edition: Translated by Guo Xu, Posts & Telecom Press
  • Recommended timing: Long-term reference after completing the curriculum
  • Content: Most comprehensive coverage — memory management, VFS, networking, modules, device drivers. Each chapter has extensive diagrams and source code analysis
  • Pages: ~1400, the thickest kernel book
  • Availability: Print hard to find; older English PDF available online
  • Recommended usage: Memorize the table of contents, know "this mechanism is in chapter X", flip there when needed

Layer 2: Device Drivers (Core Practice)​

Start from the driver development essential reading layer.

4. Linux Device Drivers, 3rd Edition (LDD3)​

  • Authors: Jonathan Corbet, Alessandro Rubini, Greg Kroah-Hartman
  • Chinese edition: Translated by Wei Yongming et al.
  • Recommended timing: Must-read classic for driver development
  • Content: Character devices, block devices, network devices, USB, PCI, memory mapping, DMA, interrupts
  • Pages: ~600
  • Free download: https://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/ (complete English PDF, author-authorized free)
  • Note: Based on kernel 2.6.10, many APIs have been updated (e.g., register_chrdev should use cdev, ioremap_nocache is deprecated), but concepts are entirely correct
  • Key chapters:
    • Ch.2: Building and running modules
    • Ch.3: Character devices
    • Ch.14: Linux device model
    • Ch.10: Interrupt handling
    • Ch.15: Memory mapping and DMA

5. Linux Device Driver Development (based on latest kernel and ARM64 architecture) — Song Baohua​

  • Publisher: Posts & Telecom Press, 3rd edition (2022)
  • Recommended timing: The most commonly used Chinese reference for Chinese engineers
  • Content: Covers 5.x kernel — character/block/network device drivers, platform drivers, DTS, I2C/SPI/USB subsystems, memory management
  • Strengths: Many examples, ARM-embedded focused, code runs on real hardware; author is a kernel community contributor
  • Recommended usage: Read alongside LDD3 — LDD3 for concepts, this book for latest APIs and real hardware practice
  • Key chapters:
    • Chapters 4–5: Character devices
    • Chapter 11: Platform drivers
    • Chapter 14: I2C, SPI bus drivers
    • Chapter 17: Memory and I/O mapping

6. Linux Device Driver Development, 2nd Edition — John Madieu​

  • Publisher: Packt Publishing (2022)
  • Recommended timing: The most up-to-date hands-on driver development book
  • Content: Based on 5.10+ kernel, covers modern kernel APIs (devm_, managed resources, threaded IRQ, regmap, DMA engine, IIO), with Raspberry Pi examples
  • Strengths: Most systematic coverage of devm_, regmap, and IIO frameworks; complete example code on GitHub
  • Code repository: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Linux-Device-Driver-Development
  • Key chapters:
    • Ch.2: Module basics
    • Ch.3: Character devices
    • Ch.6: Platform Driver (with devm_ system explanation)
    • Ch.9: I2C drivers
    • Ch.12: Pinctrl
    • Ch.14: Debugging

Layer 3: Embedded Systems (Engineering Practice)​

Full reference for building the embedded engineering big picture.

7. Embedded Linux Primer, 2nd Edition — Christopher Hallinan​

  • Chinese edition: Translated by Li Yun, Posts & Telecom Press
  • Recommended timing: Build the overall embedded Linux engineering perspective
  • Content: U-Boot, kernel boot, cross-compilation, filesystems, debugging. Very engineering-oriented
  • Key chapters:
    • Ch.5: Kernel initialization
    • Ch.7: U-Boot
    • Ch.12: Embedded development environment (NFS, JTAG)

8. Mastering Embedded Linux Programming, 3rd Edition — Chris Simmonds​

  • Publisher: Packt Publishing (2021)
  • Recommended timing: Full reference throughout
  • Content: Toolchains, U-Boot, kernel configuration, Buildroot/Yocto, root filesystems, driver debugging — systematic and up-to-date
  • Code repository: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Mastering-Embedded-Linux-Programming-Third-Edition
  • Key chapters:
    • Ch.4: Kernel configuration and compilation
    • Ch.6: Choosing a build system (Buildroot/Yocto)
    • Ch.11: Interacting with device drivers

9. Building Embedded Linux Systems, 2nd Edition — Karim Yaghmur et al.​

  • Recommended timing: When you need to understand BSP construction as a whole
  • Content: Deep coverage of toolchains, kernel configuration, root filesystem building, booting, power management. A BSP engineer's reference manual
  • Availability: O'Reilly platform; older English PDF on archive.org

10. Linux Driver Development for Embedded Processors, 2nd Edition — Alberto Liberal de los Rios​

  • Publisher: Self-published (Amazon)
  • Recommended timing: DTS and peripheral driver phase
  • Content: ARM embedded focused — DTS, GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, USB, with complete runnable examples verified on Raspberry Pi and i.MX
  • Code repository: https://github.com/ALIBEK/linux-kernel-module-cheat

Layer 4: Performance & Debugging​

Advanced direction after completing the core curriculum.

11. Linux Performance Optimization in Practice — Ni Pengfei​

  • Publisher: Publishing House of Electronics Industry
  • Recommended timing: ftrace/perf phase
  • Content: CPU, memory, I/O, network performance analysis — all based on perf, ftrace, eBPF with real-world case studies
  • Notable: The most systematic Chinese-language Linux performance analysis resource

12. BPF Performance Tools — Brendan Gregg​

  • Publisher: Addison-Wesley (2019)
  • Recommended timing: Advanced direction (eBPF is the modern replacement for kprobes)
  • Content: BCC, bpftrace toolchain — CPU/memory/network/storage performance analysis with eBPF
  • Notable: Brendan Gregg is the authority on Linux performance analysis; this is the most authoritative eBPF practical reference
  • Website: https://www.brendangregg.com/bpf-performance-tools-book.html

13. Is Parallel Programming Hard, And, If So, What Can You Do About It? — Paul E. McKenney​

Layer 5: Free Online Resources (High Quality)​

Selected LWN.net Kernel Articles​

LWN.net is the primary source for kernel developers, with articles written by kernel community members.

ArticleURL
The platform device APIhttps://lwn.net/Articles/448499/
Threaded interruptshttps://lwn.net/Articles/302043/
The common clock frameworkhttps://lwn.net/Articles/472998/
Kernel debugging with kprobeshttps://lwn.net/Articles/290277/
Device tree overlayshttps://lwn.net/Articles/616859/
Intrusive linked listshttps://lwn.net/Articles/336224/
The sysfs filesystemhttps://lwn.net/Articles/31185/

Official Kernel Documentation (Available Locally)​

# High-quality documentation in the kernel source tree
Documentation/driver-api/          # Driver API reference
Documentation/devicetree/          # DTS related
Documentation/trace/               # ftrace, kprobe
Documentation/core-api/            # Core API (memory, locks, etc.)
Documentation/kbuild/              # Build system

# Generate HTML documentation (viewable in browser)
sudo apt install python3-sphinx
make ARCH=arm htmldocs
# Output in Documentation/output/