Windows Kernel Programming, Second Edition

Windows kernel programming is considered by many a dark art, available to select few that manage tosomehow unlock the mysteries of the Windows kernel. Kernel development, however, is no differentthan user-mode development, at least in general terms. In both cases, a good understanding of theplatform is essential for producing high quality code.The book is a guide to programming within the Windows kernel, using the well-known Visual Studiointegrated development environment (IDE). This environment is familiar to many developers in theMicrosoft space, so that the learning curve is restricted to kernel understanding, coding and debugging,with less friction from the development tools.The book targets software device drivers, a term I use to refer to drivers that do not deal with hardware.Software kernel drivers have full access to the kernel, allowing these to perform any operation allowedby the kernel. Some software drivers are more specific, such as file system mini filters, also describedin the book.