Real-time Systems and Programming Languages: Ada 95, Real-Time Java and Real-Time POSIX, 3rd Ed. [Hardcover]

There are a number of excellent books on the topic of real-time systems. Few, if any, address the breadth of topics covered by this book, much less to the depth and quality exhibited here. Read as many of the others as you can, but if you must purchase only one book on real-time systems, this is the one to have. Indeed, I have each of the three previous editions of this book and this latest is, once again, worth every penny.

One of the reasons I hold such a high opinion of the book is that it is written by people who not only know what they are talking about, but can do so with clarity and precision. As leading contributors to scheduling theory and the real-time programming facilities of both Ada and Java, the authors are internationally recognized experts on real-time systems and programming languages. The text's depth reflects that fact, but it is also clear, concise, and a pleasure to read.

Another reason I recommend the book is that it has a good balance between theory and practice. Make no mistake, the necessary theory is covered extensively, but it is then illustrated with concrete examples using programming languages that are in wide-spread use today: Ada, C, and Java. As neither C nor Java were explicitly designed for concurrent real-time systems, the text includes the necessary extensions. For C, the POSIX real-time profile is used. For Java, the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ) is used. When necessary, examples are provided in other languages as well.

In fact these three programming languages form the underlying context for much of the book. They are not themselves the subjects of the book, however, and those readers seeking an introduction to these languages should look elsewhere. Instead, the programming languages are used to explore the distinct nature of real-time systems and the requirements for developing applications in that domain. The code examples thus provide a means of illustrating the topic at hand, but also provide a means for comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the real-time facilities of the languages. The authors are leading contributors to the Ada 2005 Real-Time Systems Annex and the RTSJ for Java, a fact reflected in the detailed critical analysis provided.

I felt happy to purchase yet another edition of the book because of all the above, but also because of the additions (and removals) present in this edition. New material includes additional schedulability analysis theory and material on multi-processor and multi-core architectures. With respect to programming languages, the new material includes extensive coverage of the real-time systems programming additions to Ada 2005, the latest version of the RTSJ, and the new real-time POSIX profile enhancements for C. As for removals, the introductory material on the programming languages is no longer present. This change was a necessity for the sake of brevity, but the result is a better overall focus. Also removed is the chapter on distributed systems. I was sorry to see that go, but the primary points have been moved to other chapters. Discussion of other programming languages, such as occam2, are also removed for the sake of brevity but is available on the book's web site.

I should point out that this is not just a "timing" book. For example, real-time systems typically have reliability requirements as well as timeliness requirements. Reliability is thus covered extensively, as are a number of other topics that might not be immediately suggested by the title.

In summary, I am a real-time systems engineer with over 30 years of professional development, industry lecturing, and occasional university lecturing experience. Based on that combination, I give this book my highest recommendation to both professionals and students alike. The field of real-time systems is not for beginners, but developers (and managers) as well as more advanced university students will definitely benefit. Both will find a text they can use to learn the latest in the field.

PS: Note that, at the time of this writing, Amazon is for some reason showing some reviews for earlier editions of the book, not this latest (fourth) edition.

This book is great because it covers all the important concepts quite well. I think it is a must for those into real-time programming.

This book is no good for students, as it has exercises with answers only available to lecturers though a password system.
The examples are ok but do not help for the exercises so it makes the book imcomplete and very dissappointing, If you need help for real time systems then this is not the book for you, If you just want to read a book this might be ok, but learning is not going to be done.
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