SharePoint 2010 Architecture

Hello,

Can anyone recommend any literature on SharePoint 2010 architecture that pertains to when you create lists, fields, content types, etc. programmatically through .xml or C#, how does SharePoint handle these actions behind the scenes?  So for example, if I create some custom fields through .xml, what all does SharePoint do with this information behind the scenes, aside from storing in database tables?  I'm just trying to get an understanding of how SharePoint builds these because I'll get some weirdness with duplicate fields being created.

Thanks,

Shaun