POSIX APIs
POSIX APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are a standardized set of system-level interfaces defined by the IEEE POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface) standards, primarily for Unix-like operating systems. They provide a consistent way for software to interact with core operating system services such as file I/O, process management, threading, and inter-process communication. This standardization ensures portability of applications across different POSIX-compliant systems, including Linux, macOS, and various Unix variants.
Developers should learn POSIX APIs when building system-level software, cross-platform applications, or tools that require direct interaction with the operating system, such as daemons, shells, or embedded systems. They are essential for ensuring code portability across Unix-like environments and are foundational for understanding low-level system programming, as many modern frameworks and libraries (e.g., in C/C++) build upon these APIs. Use cases include creating multi-threaded applications, handling signals, or implementing file operations in a standardized way.