Building an Operating System in C and Rust: A Three-Month Guide for Beginner Programmers, as Generated by ChatGPT

I initiated with a basic outline and was able to progress to developing a comprehensive plan down to hourly details. Although the specifics may not be entirely accurate, I am pleased with the result as it was accomplished in less than 15 minutes.

Prompt: Please make me a 3-month plan from being a c and rust beginner to becoming good at making operating systems.

Answer:
Sure! Here’s a 3-month plan for becoming proficient in C and Rust, with a focus on operating systems:

Month 1:

1. Study the basics of C programming language, including data types, variables, control structures, functions, pointers, and dynamic memory allocation.
2. Learn how to use the GCC compiler and makefiles to build and run C programs.
3. Read an introductory book on operating systems (such as “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz) to get an overview of the fundamental concepts and components of operating systems.
4. Complete a few hands-on projects in C, such as writing a simple shell, a file system, or a network daemon.
5. Start learning Rust programming language, focusing on its syntax, data types, control structures, functions, and error handling.
6. Read a book or tutorial on Rust programming, such as “The Rust Programming Language” or “Rust By Example”.
7. Implement a few simple projects in Rust, such as a command-line tool, a web server, or a game.

Month 2:

1. Deepen your understanding of operating systems by reading a more advanced book or taking an online course.
2. Study the Linux kernel source code and learn how to build and install a custom kernel.
3. Start working on a personal project to build a simple operating system from scratch using C and assembly language.
4. Learn about inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms in operating systems, such as pipes, signals, and message queues.
5. Study the design and implementation of file systems, including the ext4 file system used in Linux.
6. Continue working on Rust programming, focusing on concurrency and memory safety.
7. Implement a few projects in Rust that make use of its concurrency and safety features, such as a multi-threaded web server or a parallel processing tool.

Month 3:

1. Study the concepts of virtual memory, process management, and scheduling in operating systems.
2. Learn about system calls and the system call interface in Linux.
3. Implement key components of your personal operating system project, such as a scheduler, a file system, and a system call interface.
4. Study the design and implementation of networking in operating systems, including socket programming and network protocols.
5. Integrate Rust programming into your operating system project, using it for higher-level components and to write system utilities.
6. Participate in online forums or attend meetups to engage with other operating system developers and ask questions.
7. Continuously test, debug, and improve your operating system project, and share your progress and challenges with the community.

This plan assumes a consistent dedication of at least 20 hours per week to learning and practicing C and Rust, and operating systems. It’s also important to note that building an operating system from scratch is a complex task that can take much longer than 3 months, even for experienced developers. However, by following this plan, you will gain a solid foundation in the key concepts and technologies needed to build an operating system, and be well on your way to becoming a skilled operating system developer.

Prompt: Break each month down into weeks and generate the plan again.

Answer:
Sure! Here’s a more detailed weekly plan, broken down by week and month, for becoming proficient in C and Rust, with a focus on operating systems:

Month 1 (Weeks 1–4): Week 1:

1. Study the basics of C programming language, including data types, variables, control structures, functions, and dynamic memory allocation.
2. Complete a few simple coding exercises in C, such as implementing a calculator or a guessing game.
3. Start learning the GCC compiler and makefiles, and build and run your first C program.

Week 2:

1. Study pointers and dynamic memory allocation in C.
2. Complete a few projects that make use of pointers and dynamic memory allocation, such as a linked list or a hash table.
3. Learn how to use the GDB debugger and debug your C programs.

Week 3:

1. Study an introductory book on operating systems (such as “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz) to get an overview of the fundamental concepts and components of operating systems.
2. Start learning Rust programming language, focusing on its syntax, data types, control structures, and error handling.
3. Implement a simple project in Rust, such as a command-line tool or a web server.

Week 4:

1. Deepen your understanding of Rust by reading a book or tutorial, such as “The Rust Programming Language” or “Rust By Example”.
2. Implement a more advanced project in Rust, such as a game or a parallel processing tool.
3. Study inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms in operating systems, such as pipes, signals, and message queues.

Month 2 (Weeks 5–8): Week 5:

1. Study the Linux kernel source code and learn how to build and install a custom kernel.
2. Start working on a personal project to build a simple operating system from scratch using C and assembly language.
3. Study the design and implementation of file systems, including the ext4 file system used in Linux.

Week 6:

1. Study the concepts of virtual memory, process management, and scheduling in operating systems.
2. Learn about system calls and the system call interface in Linux.
3. Implement key components of your personal operating system project, such as a scheduler or a file system.

Week 7:

1. Study the design and implementation of networking in operating systems, including socket programming and network protocols.
2. Integrate Rust programming into your operating system project, using it for higher-level components and to write system utilities.
3. Attend an online forum or meetup to engage with other operating system developers and ask questions.

Week 8:

1. Continuously test, debug, and improve your operating system project.
2. Share your progress and challenges with the community.
3. Study more advanced topics in operating systems, such as security or distributed systems.

Month 3 (Weeks 9–12): Week 9:

1. Study the concepts of deadlocks, race conditions, and synchronization in operating systems.
2. Implement synchronization mechanisms in your operating system project, such as semaphores or mutexes.
3. Study the design and implementation of device drivers in operating systems.

Week 10:

1. Study the concepts of virtualization and containers in operating systems.
2. Implement virtualization or containerization mechanisms in your operating system project, such as a hypervisor or a container runtime.
3. Study the design and implementation of bootloaders in operating systems.

Week 11:

1. Study the concepts of init systems, service management, and system initialization in operating systems.
2. Implement an init system and service management mechanism in your operating system project.
3. Study the design and implementation of security mechanisms in operating systems, such as access control and cryptography.

Week 12:

1. Continuously test, debug, and improve your operating system project.
2. Share your final project and experiences with the community.
3. Consider presenting your project at a conference or submitting it to an open-source operating system project.

This is just a general plan, and you may need to adjust it based on your own pace and interests. The most important thing is to stay focused and consistent and to keep learning and practising regularly. Good luck!

Prompt: Break the weeks further down into individual days, and also provide links for your suggestions

Answer:
Sure, here’s a detailed daily plan, broken down by day and week, for becoming proficient in C and Rust, with a focus on operating systems:

Month 1 (Weeks 1–4): Week 1: Day 1:

• Study the basics of C programming language, including data types, variables, control structures, functions, and dynamic memory allocation.
• Suggested resource: “The C Programming Language” by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie.

Day 2:

• Complete a few simple coding exercises in C, such as implementing a calculator or a guessing game.
• Suggested resource: Project Euler (https://projecteuler.net/)

Day 3:

• Start learning the GCC compiler and makefiles, and build and run your first C program.
• Suggested resource: “An Introduction to GCC” (https://www.network-theory.co.uk/docs/gccintro/)

Day 4:

• Review and solidify your understanding of the basics of C programming.
• Continue working on your simple C projects.

Day 5:

• Study pointers and dynamic memory allocation in C.
• Suggested resource: “C Programming Absolute Beginner’s Guide (3rd Edition)” by Greg Perry and Dean Miller.

Day 6:

• Complete a few projects that make use of pointers and dynamic memory allocation, such as a linked list or a hash table.
• Suggested resource: “Data Structures and Algorithms in C” by Michael T. Goodrich, Roberto Tamassia, and Michael H. Goldwasser.

Day 7:

• Learn how to use the GDB debugger and debug your C programs.
• Suggested resource: “Debugging with GDB” (https://sourceware.org/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdb/index.html)

Week 2: Day 1:

• Review and solidify your understanding of pointers and dynamic memory allocation in C.
• Continue working on your projects that make use of pointers and dynamic memory allocation.

Day 2:

• Study an introductory book on operating systems (such as “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz) to get an overview of the fundamental concepts and components of operating systems.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz, Greg Gagne, and Peter Baer Galvin.

Day 3:

• Start learning Rust programming language, focusing on its syntax, data types, control structures, and error handling.
• Suggested resource: “The Rust Programming Language” (https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/)

Day 4:

• Implement a simple project in Rust, such as a command-line tool or a web server.
• Suggested resource: “Rust By Example” (https://doc.rust-lang.org/rust-by-example/)

Day 5:

• Deepen your understanding of Rust by reading a book or tutorial, such as “The Rust Programming Language” or “Rust By Example”.

Day 6:

• Implement a more advanced project in Rust, such as a game or a parallel processing tool.

Day 7:

• Study inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms in operating systems, such as pipes, signals, and message queues.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz, Greg Gagne, and Peter Baer Galvin.

Week 3: (And so on……)

Week 4: Day 1:

• Study file systems and disk management in operating systems, including file system organization, disk scheduling algorithms, and disk space management.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz, Greg Gagne, and Peter Baer Galvin.

Day 2:

• Study process management and scheduling in operating systems, including process states, context switching, and scheduling algorithms.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz, Greg Gagne, and Peter Baer Galvin.

Day 3:

• Study memory management in operating systems, including virtual memory, paging, and segmentation.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz, Greg Gagne, and Peter Baer Galvin.

Day 4:

• Study networking in operating systems, including socket programming, network protocols, and network stack implementation.
• Suggested resource: “Unix Network Programming” by W. Richard Stevens, Bill Fenner, and Andrew M. Rudoff.

Day 5:

• Study the design and implementation of device drivers in operating systems, including how to communicate with different types of devices, such as disks, keyboards, and printers.
• Suggested resource: “Linux Device Drivers” by Jonathan Corbet, Alessandro Rubini, and Greg Kroah-Hartman.

Day 6:

• Study the design and implementation of system calls in operating systems, including how to interface with the kernel from user-space applications.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz, Greg Gagne, and Peter Baer Galvin.

Day 7:

• Study the design and implementation of system libraries in operating systems, including standard library functions for I/O, string manipulation, and memory management.
• Suggested resource: “The Linux Programming Interface” by Michael Kerrisk.

Month 2 (Weeks 5–8): Week 5: Day 1:

• Start a small project in C and/or Rust to implement a simple operating system component, such as a device driver, a file system, or a system call.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Development Series” by MikeOS (http://www.mikeos.com/docs.html)

Day 2–7:

• Work on your small operating system project, studying the relevant concepts and technologies as needed.

Week 6: Day 1–7:

• Continue working on your small operating system project, and seek help from online communities, such as Stack Overflow or Reddit, when needed.

Week 7: Day 1–7:

• Continue working on your small operating system project, and start integrating multiple components into a cohesive system.

Week 8: Day 1–7:

• Finish your small operating system project, and test and debug it thoroughly.

Month 3 (Weeks 9–12): Week 9: Day 1:

• Study the design and implementation of bootloaders in operating systems, including bootstrapping the kernel, loading and executing the init system, and setting up the system environment.
• Suggested resource: “Operating System Concepts” by Abraham Silberschatz, Greg Gagne, and Peter Baer Galvin.

Day 2–7:

• Work on integrating a bootloader into your operating system project, and study relevant concepts and technologies as needed.

Week 10: Day 1–7:

• Continue integrating the bootloader into your operating system project, and seek help from online communities, such as Stack Overflow or Reddit, when needed.

Week 11: Day 1–7:

• Continue integrating the bootloader into your operating system project, and test and debug it thoroughly.

Week 12: Day 1–7:

• Finish integrating the bootloader into your operating system project, and test and debug the entire system to ensure it’s functioning as expected.

By the end of the 12 weeks, you should have a basic understanding of the design and implementation of operating systems and have completed a small operating system project. This should give you a solid foundation to build upon, and you can continue learning and growing your skills by working on more complex projects and exploring advanced topics in operating systems.

Prompt: Can you further break down the first day of the week into an hour-by-hour plan? continue and don't stop until you compete.

Answer:
Sure! Here’s an hour-by-hour plan for Day 1 of Week 4:

9:00 AM — 10:00 AM: Introduction to file systems and disk management. Read the first few chapters of “Operating System Concepts” to get an overview of the topics you’ll be studying.

10:00 AM — 11:00 AM: Study file system organization, including how files and directories are structured on disk, and how they are represented in memory.

11:00 AM — 12:00 PM: Study disk scheduling algorithms, including First-Come-First-Served (FCFS), Shortest-Seek-Time-First (SSTF), and SCAN.

12:00 PM — 1:00 PM: Lunch Break

1:00 PM — 2:00 PM: Study disk space management, including allocation methods such as linked allocation and indexed allocation, and de-allocation methods such as bit maps and linked lists.

2:00 PM — 3:00 PM: Practice problems related to file systems and disk management.

3:00 PM — 4:00 PM: Study the implementation of file systems in different operating systems, such as NTFS in Windows and EXT4 in Linux.

4:00 PM — 5:00 PM: Study the design and implementation of file systems in embedded systems, such as Flash File System (FFS) and NOR Flash File System (NFFS).

5:00 PM — 6:00 PM: Summarize what you learned today, and review any difficult concepts.

By the end of Day 1, you should have a solid understanding of file systems and disk management, and be ready to move on to the next topic: process management and scheduling.