Customer Reviews

80X86 IBM PC and Compatible Computers: Assembly Language, Design and Interfacing Vol. I and II (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is very well written. It's approach to learning assembly language and how 80x86 systems interface with peripherals is the best I've ever seen. The programming examples are clear, concise, and relevant. Hardware interfacing is heavily PC/XT centered (old), but is still relevant in many of today's embedded systems.

The book also details how to use C to accomplish many of the same tasks that are often done in assembly. Well written low level interfacing in C and assembly, good luck finding any book that explains it better.

As for complaints, the 3rd edition does not cover MMX or 3DNOW instructions in any depth. The parts on writing device drivers are weak. USB bus discussion is far too minimal. For a book published in 2000, I expect more in those areas.

The above are my only complaints about the book. It is well worth the purchase price.

This book is exactly what you'd expect from M. Mazidi: a no-nonsense, implementation-oriented approach to the 80x86 processors that is accessible to the beginner yet detailed enough for experienced Intel assembly programmers. The introductory chapter provides basic background information that is usually taken for granted in application notes or data sheets. The background information is exceptionally useful to people who are beginning work on an Intel embedded system, or who wish to refresh their memory and keep up with industry developments.

This book includes more than just theoretical discussion of x86 designe issues. It incorporates code examples and illustrations, and the information is up to date. It would be suitable as a textbook even at the undergraduate level, although I am using it as a low-level development resource.

This book must have been obsolete already 7 years ago. DOS there is the most popular system, assembler is still 16-bit, with some "news" on few pages about "new" 32-bit one. It is ridiculous how they can annotate this book as up-to-date and for such ski-high price ! Don't fall in this trap.

This book is very easy to read and understand. The tone the writers use sounds technical because of the jargon but they explain everything using normal language. If you pick this up and open to some random page, you might be lost. However, if you read it and go through the exercises in the appendix (especially the DEBUG exercises) it'll make sense. I really enjoyed the way this was written: it was to-the-point and unpretentious.

This text starts at the bottom. If you think it's too outdated because it talks about 16 bit registers, I'm telling you that that's all you need to know when you're starting out in assembly language. I'm not sure how this book is as an expert's reference, but as a learning tool it is excellent.

Excellent book, even if it is dated from 1995, this is still accurate today.
Strongly recommended to persons interested in assembly language and in how a computer actually performs its tasks

I used this book in my college Assembly course, and after reviewing quite a number of other books, this is by far the best one I have seen to date. Sure, it does concentrate on the 8086/8088 processors and XT machines to quite an extent, but one must remember that even the latest Pentiums are 80x86-compatible processors (as far as the instruction sets are concerned), so that being said I feel that this book is far from obsolete. I've been programming in assembly on everything from the XT, to the HP200lx palmtop, to the Pentium-4, and this book has never failed to be an exceptional reference tool. Expensive, but well worth it!

I have been through most of this book and flipped through some of the other pages (not done yet). So far this book has been very informative. It describes older architecture to help you understand the newer architecture. Describing many of the chips that you do not see on your computer motherboard anymore, but rather integrated all into one IC. Eager to finish.