Since time immemorial (or the advent of UNIX--pretty much the same thing), the init program has been the first user-space program to run on Unix-like systems. As systems grew more complex, so did system initialization. The responsibilities of init grew multifold and its implementations diverged. Beginning with the "Tiger" version of Mac OS X, Apple introduced a powerful new way of system initialization: launchd. Launchd isn't just an init replacement though--it provides a powerful XML interface for defining when, where, and how programs should be invoked on OS X. In this talk, Dave, who developed launchd, will discuss the rationale behind launchd and how the program came to be. You will also learn about the many options launchd provides for defining the interaction between the operating system and your code, and how your code can be started automatically through launchd.
Dave Zarzycki is responsible for helping teams across Apple design and integrate their technologies in the the mainline operating system. As a part of this role, he has developed a technology called "launchd" to aid those developers.
This talk will be taped by the engEDU Tech Talks Team.
production company: Google engEDU
