Introduction to 80x86 Assembly Language and Computer Architecture Review

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Introduction to 80x86 Assembly Language and Computer Architecture ReviewI bought this book as a refresher and as a reference to keep on my shelf at work, where I need to write (or at least read and understand) some Intel x86 assembly from time to time. I was looking for something that wasn't as outdated as my college textbook, "80X86 IBM PC and Compatible Computers: Assembly Language, Design, and Interfacing, Vols. 1 and 2" by Mazidi et al (mine is the second edition). That is the problem with a lot of assembly books, is that they pre-date the 32-bit instruction set (the 80386 and higher CPUs) and hence they give a lot of bad and just wrong advice. This book does not have that problem, which is good. It also does a great job of helping the high-level language programmer understand how their programming language constructs translate into assembly instructions and actually take place. I have never seen a good explanation of that outside of articles by disassemblers and reverse engineers, but every programmer ought to know these concepts because it may come in handy when debugging some day.
But although it serves as an excellent introduction to the material, it is on the thin side (500 pages) for the hefty textbook price it wields. It's just not comprehensive, nor does it have any practical programming lessons for the reader. Unlike my college textbook above, which was used for a two semester senior-level course, this textbook just doesn't cover what I want (a practical guide to using assembly in the field, as opposed to just in the classroom). I don't think it's thorough enough for a comprehensive college course in the subject. When you finish the book, you may understand assembly, but you won't know what to do with it (or what you can do with it). Nor is it thorough enough to be used as a reference material for work. It omits quite a few processor instructions that I feel are important to know for reference.
My advice is to pass on this book, unless you are completely new to the material, because it seems like a good learning text. Even still, you will eventually need a more authoritative reference guide for when you encounter the things this book doesn't cover (such as interfacing the PC hardware).
Intel's "Software Developers Manuals" are freely available at their site in PDF, and I would suggest downloading all of those as your reference and purchasing Mazidi's book (now in fourth edition and NOT outdated anymore) for a few bucks more than this one.Introduction to 80x86 Assembly Language and Computer Architecture OverviewThoroughly revised and updated throughout, the Second Edition of Introduction to 80x86 Assembly Language and Computer Architecture provides students with a clear and concise introduction to the inner workings of the computer, and their many levels and functions. Through introducing real instruction sets and writing real assembly language programs, students will become acquainted with the basics of computer architecture. The Second Edition now includes the use of the Microsoft Visual Studio environment, which is widely available to students and professionals, and provides a robust environment for editing, assembling, debugging, and executing problems. The text continues to emphasize basic architecture, not just the 80x86 line, and now includes 64-bit operations but is still appropriate for those working with 32-bit computers. Programmers are expected to program effectively at any level. Ensure students are up-to-speed with Introduction to 80x86 Assembly Language and Computer Architecture, Second Edition.

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