File System arcitecture / understanding?

[dominover1]

Hi
It was hard to make a heading for this question as I'm not sure how to ask for what I want to learn.

Recently I tried to install Code::Blocks which was fine. When I installed wxWidgets with it I ran into all sorts of problems.. Still not resolved though thats another issue (only been on that one for 4 days straight now).

There's allot of knowledge out there on the different directories on your pc,, what they do and how to access them. Global Variables, how one program accesses another etc. I'm not asking these questions in particular but I am asking what kind of category does the subjects just described come under (and other useful info of course)?

I want to learn more about this sort of thing so I can solve things for myself a little more. I'm assuming there's people out there who have learned about this sort of thing and more from say courses at uni or other. Is there a good introductory textbook you can recommend or something like that. I really need to build my knowledge in these areas as I'm often stuck not knowing how anything works beyond the programming I do on my pc. It's the rest of that computer filesystem knowledge etc where I get stuck.

If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Dominover

 

[OS-Wiz]

MS Technet is a great source for all types of technical info about MS operating systems (OS), here's how NTFS works: NTFS Technical Reference: Local File Systems

The mechanisms behind Global variables are unique to each language and database. They are normally stored in a memory appendage of the creator's address space. They normally are not persisted across shutdowns.

 

[dominover1]

Thanks for that. I'm not just confining my self to Global Variables though. I'm trying to understand how someone knows and understands the ideas behind creating debug files, system files and other concepts.. I'm not sure but maybe something like this will be taught in a beginners computer science class or something. I just need to improve my technical knowledge about how to look at the big picture and identify some of the things I've described and more.

Thanks again.
Dominover

 

[OS-Wiz]

If you want an inside look at what an OS system looks like, look at the install guide for the OS, e.g. Windows Server 2008 R8 Install Guide. System files are created by the product while being installed. Best way to view them is to simply list them with Windows Explorer, then Google them to find out how they are used, etc.
Some programming languages come with a Software Developer's Kit (SDK) with a built-in debugger. For other languages you build in the debug code yourself, called code instrumentation that can be turned on or off via a debug switch e.g.

DO THIS
-DISPLAY, "got to 'DO THIS'"
FETCH RECORD/ROW
-DISPLAY, "record/row looked like this, :RECORD LAYOUT before being manipulated"

 

[dominover1]

Thanks for the help.. I'll keep reading and take on your suggestions.
Cheers

 

[OS-Wiz]

Thanks for the help.. I'll keep reading and take on your suggestions.
Cheers

You're welcome. I should have been clearer in my example, psuedo-code:

DECLARE DEBUG_SWITCH Boolean
SET DEBUG_SWITCH ON
DO THIS
IF DEBUG_SWITCH ON THEN
   DISPLAY "got to 'DO THIS'";
FETCH RECORD/ROW
IF DEBUG_SWITCH ON THEN
   DISPLAY "record/row looked like this, :RECORD LAYOUT before being changed";