Kernel drivers (sketch)

A driver is firmware that lives inside someone else's kernel. Buraaq's job is the same: one owner, explicit unsafe at the ABI, fast loops.

Shape

extern c  →  NTSTATUS / linux file_operations
safe Buraaq  →  parse, queues, policy
unsafe       →  MMIO, IRQL, DMA maps

You do not rewrite WDK or the Linux kbuild. You compile a module that exports the C entry points the OS already expects.

unsafe

extern c {
    fn MmMapIoSpace(phys: u64, num: u64, cache: i32) -> *u8
}

fn read_status(mmio: *u8) -> u32 {
    # volatile load: your wrapper, not a hidden runtime
    ...
}

Memory

• Pool allocations: wrap ExAllocatePool / kmalloc in a type that drops with ExFreePool / kfree
• IRP / sk_buff lifetimes: the kernel owns them: borrow for the duration of the dispatch, never store without an explicit take
• No GC, no unwinding across a DPC unless you designed it

Why not C++ for this

C++ in kernel is a dialect war (no exceptions, no RTTI, a subset of the STL). Buraaq is already that subset: no exceptions as control flow (throws is Result-shaped), no hidden constructors on the IRQ path if you do not write them.

Limits (read this)

No blessed WDK template in the compiler tree yet. Signing, INF, MODULE_LICENSE, and WHQL are your OS story. This chapter teaches how Buraaq *fits*: ownership, extern c, drop: so a 10-year driver engineer can sketch without learning a second language's lifetime puzzle.

Optional Windows GUI for tools that talk to a driver lives last: Lumen.