Learn programming before you begin.

Assembly language is essential; another

supplementary low level language such as C is strongly recommended.


1
Learn programming before you begin. Assembly language is essential; another
supplementary low level language such as C is strongly recommended.
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2
Decide what media you want to load your OS on. It can be a CD drive, DVD drive, flash
drive, a hard disk, a floppy disk, or another PC.


3
Decide what you want your OS to do. Whether it is a fully capable OS with a graphical user
interface (GUI) or something a bit more minimalistic, you'll need to know what direction you
are taking it before beginning.


4
Target what processor platform your operating system will support. AI-32 and x86_64
are the two most common for personal computers so they're your best bet.


5
Decide if you would rather do it all yourself from the ground up, or if there is an
existing kernel you would like to build on top of. Linux from scratch is a project for those
that would like to build their own Linux distro, for example.


6
Decide if you're going to use your own bootloader or a pre-created one such as Grand
Unified Bootloader (GRUB). Since coding your own bootloader will require extensive
knowledge of the hardware and the BIOS, it may push back the schedule for programming of
the actual kernel.


7
Decide what programming language to use. While it is possible to create an operating
system in a language such as Pascal or BASIC, you will be better off using C or Assembly.
Assembly is absolutely necessary, as some vital parts of an operating system require it. C++,
on the other hand, contains keywords that need another fully-built OS to run.
In order to compile an operating system from C or C++ code, you will, of course, be
using one compiler or another. You should, therefore, read the user
guide/manuals/documentation for your chosen C/C++ compiler, whether it comes
packaged with the software or is available on the distributor's website. You will need
to know many intricate things about your compiler and, for C++ development, you
should know about the compiler's mangling scheme and its ABI. You are expected to
understand the various executable formats (ELF, PE, COFF, plain binary, etc.), and
understand that the Windows proprietary format, PE (.exe), has been copyrighted.


8
Decide on your application programming interface (API). One good API to choose is
POSIX, since it is well documented. All Unix systems have at least partial support for
POSIX, so it would be trivial to port Unix programs to your OS.


9
Decide on your design. There are monolithic kernels and microkernels. Monolithic kernels
implement all the services in the kernel, while microkernels have a small kernel combined
with user daemons implementing services. In general, monolithic kernels are faster, but
microkernels have better fault isolation and reliability.


10
Consider developing and working in a team. That way, less time is required to solve more
problems, which may produce a better OS more quickly.


11
Do not wipe your hard drive completely. Remember, wiping your drive will irreversibly
clear out all your data! Use GRUB or another boot manager to dual-boot your system with
another OS until yours is fully functional.


12
Start small. Begin with small things such as displaying text and interrupts before moving on
to things such as memory management and multitasking.


13
Keep a backup of the last working source. This provides a measure of protection in case
something goes terribly wrong with the current version of your OS or your development. If
your PC crashes and is unable to boot, it is an excellent idea to have a second copy to work
with so you can troubleshoot.


14
Consider testing your new operating system with a virtual machine. Rather than
rebooting your computer each time you make changes or having to transfer the files from
your development computer to your test machine, you can use a virtual machine application
to run your OS while your current OS is still running. VM applications include VMWare
(which also has a freely available server product), the open-source alternative, Bochs,
Microsoft Virtual PC (not compatible with Linux), and xVM VirtualBox.


15
Release a "release candidate." This will allow users to tell you about potential problems
with your operating system.


16
An operating system can be user friendly too, so make sure to add user friendly
features, making these an integral part of your design.