Kastor (kernel)
Encyclopedia
kastor is the first project of the Opaak
educational trilogy which also includes kaneton
and kayou
. kastor is an introductory project to low-level programming. The particularity of this project compared to other education-oriented operating system kernels lies in the fact that it has been designed to be fun.
capable of running small arcade games. kastor does not require advanced features as for modern kernels. For instance, kastor is devoid of virtual memory
and multitasking
functionalities as unnecessary for the project's purpose.
This way, the project can be programmed within a few weeks, making it very suitable as an introduction to low-level programming.
s of the arcade games having been developed with the kastor-specific SDK. The game to be run is located on a specific file system
referred to as the KFS. The kernel therefore extracts the ROM from the file system and runs it.
Several games are provided for students to test their implementation including versions of Pong
and Arcanoid among others.
.
However, at the time, the project was named "k" and was later renamed with the introduction of the Opaak
educational trilogy. Besides, the initial form of the project was completely different, consisting for students in implementing parts of a monolithic kernel such as memory management, interruption handling etc. It was only later that Matthieu Bucchianeri and Renaud Voltz, taking over the teaching of the project, decided to introduce fun in order to make it easier to teach, leading to arcade emulation it is now.
Opaak
The Opaak educational trilogy aims at providing material for the teaching and self-teaching of operating system concepts ranging from low-level programming, to kernel internals to operating system principles and distributed system paradigms.-kastor:...
educational trilogy which also includes kaneton
Kaneton
kaneton is a microkernel project which aims at providing a very clear, extensible and powerful design. The kaneton project is part of the Opaak educational trilogy along with the kastor and kayou projects.- Branches :...
and kayou
Kayou
kayou is a distributed operating system project developed on top of the kaneton microkernel in the vein of Amoeba.kayou provides a powerful distribution-oriented interface which enables applications to take advantage of the resources of networked computers...
. kastor is an introductory project to low-level programming. The particularity of this project compared to other education-oriented operating system kernels lies in the fact that it has been designed to be fun.
Objective
The project consists for students to implement a simplistic monolithic kernelKernel
-Computer science:* Kernel , the central component of most operating systems** The Linux kernel, from GNU/Linux operating systems** The Windows 9x kernel, used in Windows 95, 98 and ME...
capable of running small arcade games. kastor does not require advanced features as for modern kernels. For instance, kastor is devoid of virtual memory
Virtual memory
In computing, virtual memory is a memory management technique developed for multitasking kernels. This technique virtualizes a computer architecture's various forms of computer data storage , allowing a program to be designed as though there is only one kind of memory, "virtual" memory, which...
and multitasking
Multitasking
Multitasking may refer to any of the following:*Computer multitasking - the apparent simultaneous performance of two or more tasks by a computer's central processing unit...
functionalities as unnecessary for the project's purpose.
This way, the project can be programmed within a few weeks, making it very suitable as an introduction to low-level programming.
Games
Students are provided with ROMRom
ROM, Rom, or rom is an abbreviation and name that may refer to:-In computers and mathematics:* Read-only memory, a type of storage media which is used in computers and other electronic devices....
s of the arcade games having been developed with the kastor-specific SDK. The game to be run is located on a specific file system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
referred to as the KFS. The kernel therefore extracts the ROM from the file system and runs it.
Several games are provided for students to test their implementation including versions of Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
and Arcanoid among others.
History
The kastor project has been created in 2004 by Jean-Pascal Billaud and Julien Quintard as an optional course at EPITAEPITA
The École Pour l'Informatique et les Techniques Avancées , more commonly known as EPITA is a French higher education institution specialized in the field of computer science and software engineering...
.
However, at the time, the project was named "k" and was later renamed with the introduction of the Opaak
Opaak
The Opaak educational trilogy aims at providing material for the teaching and self-teaching of operating system concepts ranging from low-level programming, to kernel internals to operating system principles and distributed system paradigms.-kastor:...
educational trilogy. Besides, the initial form of the project was completely different, consisting for students in implementing parts of a monolithic kernel such as memory management, interruption handling etc. It was only later that Matthieu Bucchianeri and Renaud Voltz, taking over the teaching of the project, decided to introduce fun in order to make it easier to teach, leading to arcade emulation it is now.