Low-Level Index

The whole atlas on one page. Ten branches across seven phases, descending from the machine model to the metal and climbing back up to a working operating system.

01 · Foundations

• Machine Model — CPU, memory hierarchy, data representation; "now you are the runtime."

02 · The C Layer

• C from the Metal — the weak type system, undefined behavior, a thin layer over the machine.
• Pointers & Memory — stack vs heap, malloc/free, the classic bugs, custom allocators.

03 · Down to the Metal

• Assembly & Compiler Output — read x86-64 (ARM64 appendix) and what your compiler emits.
• Toolchain & Linking — preprocess→compile→assemble→link, ELF, debuggers, sanitizers.

04 · C++ (optional)

• Modern C++ — RAII, smart pointers, move semantics, the STL. Optional; the OS is C-first.

05 · Systems

• Systems Programming — syscalls, processes, mmap, signals, the POSIX layer.
• Concurrency & Performance — atomics, memory ordering, lock-free, SIMD, benchmarking.

06 · The Project

• OS from Scratch — bootloader to shell on x86-64 under QEMU.

★ · Always Active

• Craftsmanship Low-Level — TDD, fuzzing, contracts, and review for memory-unsafe code.

Reference

• Reference Registry — canonical books, specs, and tools cited across the atlas.