OS X and iOS Kernel Programming

Common Types of Problems

There are many reasons why the kernel may crash or why other problems may happen. However, they are usually variations on common errors and once you know what class of problem you are dealing with, it makes it a lot easier to start examining your code for problems. Let’s have a broad look at some of the problems you may encounter during kernel development.

• Race Conditions: A general class of bugs used to describe a problem where multiple threads of execution conflict with each other and the outcome depends on which thread gets there first. Race conditions are quite common and are often due to poor design or poor locking in multi-threaded environments. They can sometimes be tricky to reproduce and may be hiding a long ...