Editing Systems programming (section)

== Overview ==

The following attributes characterize systems programming:
* The [[programmer]] can make assumptions about the hardware and other properties of the system that the program runs on, and will often exploit those properties, for example by using an [[algorithm]] that is known to be efficient when used with specific hardware.
* Usually a [[low-level programming language]] or programming language dialect is used so that:
** Programs can operate in resource-constrained environments
** Programs can be efficient with little [[Run-time system|runtime]] overhead, possibly having either a small [[runtime library]] or none at all
** Programs may use direct and "raw" control over memory access and [[control flow]]
** The programmer may write parts of the program directly in [[assembly language]]
* Often systems programs cannot be run in a [[debugger]]. Running the program in a [[computer simulation|simulated environment]] can sometimes be used to reduce this problem.{{Dubious|date=April 2024|reason=Most software built using contemporary programming languages can be run in a debugger, but it may not be acceptable to debug software in production or embedded systems.}}

In systems programming, often limited programming facilities are available. The use of [[garbage collection (computer science)|automatic garbage collection]] is not common and [[debugging]] is sometimes hard to do. The [[runtime library]], if available at all, is usually far less powerful, and does less error checking. Because of those limitations, [[System monitoring|monitoring]] and [[data logging|logging]] are often used; [[operating system]]s may have extremely elaborate logging subsystems.

Implementing certain parts in operating systems and networking requires systems programming, for example implementing paging ([[virtual memory]]) or a [[device driver]] for an operating system.