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bootloader / mzBIOS
The very first code that runs when a machine powers on, whose job is to wake the hardware and hand control to the operating system.
Before an OS kernel can run, firmware must initialise the CPU and memory and then load the kernel into place — that early stage is the bootloader, and mzBIOS is this project's from-scratch version of that firmware. It sits below everything else, so bugs here fail before the system even gets going. Writing your own means controlling the machine from the literal first instruction.
See also
- cloneA system call that creates a new process or thread, letting the child share chosen resources with its parent.
- context switchThe kernel saving one thread's full state and loading another's, so a single CPU can juggle many tasks.
- CNTPARM's built-in hardware timer that counts real elapsed time, used during boot and scheduling.