Interface Functions

The SunOS 5.0 through 5.8 functions discussed in this manual are the interfaces between the services provided by the kernel and application programs. The functions described in man pages section 2: System Calls, man pages section 3: Basic Library Functions, man pages section 3: Curses Library Functions, man pages section 3: Extended Library Functions, man pages section 3: Library Interfaces and Headers, man pages section 3: Networking Library Functions, man pages section 3: Threads and Realtime Library Functions, are an application's interface to the SunOS 5.0 through 5.8 operating system. These functions are how an application uses facilities such as the file system, interprocess communication primitives, and multitasking mechanisms. This manual is one of a set that describe major elements of the API. Other manuals in the set are STREAMS Programming Guide, Multithreaded Programming Guide, Network Interface Guide, and so forth.

When you use the library routines described in sections 2 and 3 of the Solaris 8 Reference Manual Collection, the details of their implementation are transparent to the program. For example, the function read underlies the fread implementation in the standard C library.

A C program is automatically linked to the invoked functions when you compile the program. The procedure might be different for programs written in other languages. See the Linker and Libraries Guide for more information.