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/ kernel-dev.md
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October 1, 2025 06:07
Getting started with Linux kernel development
The Linux kernel is written in C, so you should have at least a basic understanding of C before diving into kernel work. You don't need expert level C knowledge, since you can always pick some things up underway, but it certainly helps to know the language and to have written some userspace C programs already.
It will also help to be a Linux user. If you have never used Linux before, it's probably a good idea to download a distro and get comfortable with it before you start doing kernel work.
Lastly, knowing git is not actually required, but can really help you (since you can dig through changelogs and search for information you'll need). At a minimum you should probably be able to clone the git repository to a local directory.
Here's a list of mildly interesting things about the C language that I learned mostly by consuming Clang's ASTs. Although surprises are getting sparser, I might continue to update this document over time.
There are many more mildly interesting features of C++, but the language is literally known for being weird, whereas C is usually considered smaller and simpler, so this is (almost) only about C.
1. Combined type and variable/field declaration, inside a struct scope [https://godbolt.org/g/Rh94Go]
struct foo {
struct bar {
int x;