MacOS and iOS Internals, Volume I: User Mode (v1.3)
Product ID: 79691570
In this first volume of the "Mac OS and *OS Internals" trilogy, Jonathan Levin takes on the user mode components of Apple's operating systems. Starting with an introduction as to their layered architecture, touring private frameworks and libraries, and then delving into the internals of applications, process, thread and memory management, Mach messaging, launchd and XPC internals, and wrapping up with advanced debugging and tracing techniques using the most powerful APIs that were hitherto unknown and unused outside Apple's own applications. As with the other books in this series, the approach taken is that of deep reverse engineering, with plenty of hands-on examples, illustrations, pointers to Apple's open sources (when available) and decompilation of code (when not). The book's companion website (NewOSXBook.com) is full of tools, samples and other bonus material for this book. Due to print run issues, NOTE FIRST COPIES WILL SHIP DECEMBER. Review: Well researched, practical and full of tools to test the ideas. Amazing to learn iOS/MacOS internals - If you are coming from a different ecosystem and want to have a clear understanding how MacOs/iOS works, don't waste a single minute and get this book now. I have a Windows security background (vulns, exploits, browser based design flaws) and then I moved to Android, where I've been playing for more than a year. Now I had to make the move to the iOS world and it was kind of hard to find "The Book" to get the grasp of it, to understand how XNU/Darwin/iOS|MacOS ticks. Well, this is the book. It it so well researched that it reminds me the happiness I felt long time ago with Windows Internals (Mark R). The author took the time to build tools and scripts that not only helped him to properly research but also gives the reader a quicker way to verify his claims. In other words, it's not the typical book where you see random facts and you simply have to accept them, here you will read and try, read and try. Why is Darwin hard to compile/build even if it's open source? What framework is used to resolve Mach-O symbols? What are the iOS recepits and where can you find them? App Nap? Private frameworks? Kernel Extensions? Are X-Code projects for the MacOS protecting the heap by default? Are you familiar with file forks in Darwin? How do entitlements work? How to do function interposing? How to capture FSEvents? Can you know which process is reading that file without root? From the very beginning this book is delicious. Take your time to read it, and have your highlighter ready. There's only one thing that really bugs me: the author does not provide a digital version. Yes, I understand the reasons for that (piracy) but when the reader (in this case, myself) has a an efficient digital learning flow (highlight and send to Anki, a flash card program) it feels like wasting a lot of time to literally highlight to then write that text into Anki. Also, when a book is digital you can read it every single time that you have a free moment. Physical, you must remember to carry it with you. Having said that, I totally understand the author. I just want him to know that I'd be willing to pay two times the price of the book for a digital version. Enjoy! Review: Excellent book, very complete. - Excellent book, very complete. Even if it describes very technical things, it is easy to understand. I especially appreciate the Experiments (some kind of exercises). And it is more than a book: the author has created an incredible number of tools (downloadable from the book's website). I have however two remarks: 1) there are w lot of references to Volume II that is not yet available. So it is not always easy to follow some points (that are about both user and kernel spaces). 2) The command line transcripts in white with black background are not easy to read. Color would be fantastic but this is probably an economical concern.
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,707,298 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #223 in Macintosh Operating System |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 47 Reviews |
M**0
Well researched, practical and full of tools to test the ideas. Amazing to learn iOS/MacOS internals
If you are coming from a different ecosystem and want to have a clear understanding how MacOs/iOS works, don't waste a single minute and get this book now. I have a Windows security background (vulns, exploits, browser based design flaws) and then I moved to Android, where I've been playing for more than a year. Now I had to make the move to the iOS world and it was kind of hard to find "The Book" to get the grasp of it, to understand how XNU/Darwin/iOS|MacOS ticks. Well, this is the book. It it so well researched that it reminds me the happiness I felt long time ago with Windows Internals (Mark R). The author took the time to build tools and scripts that not only helped him to properly research but also gives the reader a quicker way to verify his claims. In other words, it's not the typical book where you see random facts and you simply have to accept them, here you will read and try, read and try. Why is Darwin hard to compile/build even if it's open source? What framework is used to resolve Mach-O symbols? What are the iOS recepits and where can you find them? App Nap? Private frameworks? Kernel Extensions? Are X-Code projects for the MacOS protecting the heap by default? Are you familiar with file forks in Darwin? How do entitlements work? How to do function interposing? How to capture FSEvents? Can you know which process is reading that file without root? From the very beginning this book is delicious. Take your time to read it, and have your highlighter ready. There's only one thing that really bugs me: the author does not provide a digital version. Yes, I understand the reasons for that (piracy) but when the reader (in this case, myself) has a an efficient digital learning flow (highlight and send to Anki, a flash card program) it feels like wasting a lot of time to literally highlight to then write that text into Anki. Also, when a book is digital you can read it every single time that you have a free moment. Physical, you must remember to carry it with you. Having said that, I totally understand the author. I just want him to know that I'd be willing to pay two times the price of the book for a digital version. Enjoy!
E**F
Excellent book, very complete.
Excellent book, very complete. Even if it describes very technical things, it is easy to understand. I especially appreciate the Experiments (some kind of exercises). And it is more than a book: the author has created an incredible number of tools (downloadable from the book's website). I have however two remarks: 1) there are w lot of references to Volume II that is not yet available. So it is not always easy to follow some points (that are about both user and kernel spaces). 2) The command line transcripts in white with black background are not easy to read. Color would be fantastic but this is probably an economical concern.
C**.
This book is a delight to read
This book is a delight to read. It is both highly technical and an excellent reference to come back to again and again. Being newer to MacOS/IOS and wanting to dig into the Internals this was a great place to start for me. I really enjoyed this book, the insights, and the hints on places to further explore. There are several exercises as well to provide hands on reinforcement. This book provided me the technical depth while being accessible at the same time. I am not sure if its available electronically, but I really liked having the hardcopy, even though it is a non-standard being size.
U**3
Really good
Legitimately the best guide to Apple internals. If you wanna learn Windows read Windows Internals. If you wanna learn about ios/macos read these there was clearly a lot of hard work put into this guide and it's worth the price.
M**O
The best and most comprehensive resource for Apple OS, development
The author has done an amazing job. Apple's resources aside (and beyond) this publication is a must have for anyone interested in low level development on Apple platforms. Great job!
T**C
Great book but Digital Edition or European Market Please!!!
Great Book. I would love to buy the other volume II and III. But I had to pay up to 120€ (shipping + tax) for this one.
L**N
I never read such great book that describe the internals so deeply and clearly
I never read such great book that describe the internals so deeply and clearly, it definitely is a MUST HAVE book if you are interested in iOS.
J**E
Most recently *OS Technical info
The only book which described most recently macOS and iOS technical information. Worth to buy and read. Waiting for volume 2.
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