Assembly Language for the IBM PC Family (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

William Jones (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1576760588 | ISBN-13: 978-1576760581 | Publication Date: October 12, 2000 | Edition: 3

This textbook teaches useful programming techniques. It was developed so that the order and presentation of material is determined by pedagogical necessity. Important but difficult concepts are delayed until the reader has a sound grasp of the fundamentals and these more advanced concepts are actually needed. Constant and exhaustive reinforcement ensures that readers thoroughly understand the concepts presented. The author's extensive set of exercises, with answers, tests the student's grasp of what is happening in the machine on a nuts and bolts level.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Features:
• This text is not a reference manual. Its intent is to teach sound, useful programming techniques, and to this end, order and presentation of material is determined by pedagogical necessity.
• Important but difficult concepts are delayed until the reader has a sound grasp of the fundamentals and these more advanced concepts are actually needed.
• Constant and exhaustive reinforcement ensures that readers thoroughly understand the concepts presented. The author's extensive set of exercises, with answers, tests the student's grasp of what is happening in the machine on a nuts and bolts level.
• Realistic applications of all techniques are used.

New in this edition
• Less time is spent on low-level DOS and BIOS calls. Increasingly, in a windows environment the hardware can't be accessed on that level.
• There is some discussion of C++ internals, particularly how polymorphy is accomplished.
• An appendix on DOS in a Windows environment is included.
• The author assumes that the reader has a Pentium, although all but one section of the book will work with a 386 or 486 and those can be skipped.
• Some practical 32 bit programming is covered; also interfacing with VC++, how calling virtual functions works in VC++ and rudimentary Win32 programming.
• MASM is now packaged with the text.

About the Author

William B. Jones, Retired Professor of Computer Sciences, California State University Dominguez Hills.

Product Details

• Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 3 edition (October 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576760588
• ISBN-13: 978-1576760581
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb book for UNDERSTANDING assembly language, May 13, 2002

By 

John M. Mcnally (Huntington, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Assembly Language for the IBM PC Family (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

This review is for the 2nd Edition.

I've read quite a few books on assembly language, but the approach to the material in each of them was not from a "teaching" point of view.

This book is the only one I've come across that addresses the material through the students eyes. For example, a concept or topic will not be used or referred to until it has been covered. That sounds like common sense, but I've discovered common sense is not common.

First, an overview of a computer and it's architecture is presented. Then topics are covered (clearly and extensively) that build on the previous topics. This is key in building a foundational, true understanding of the material.

Jones knows people learn best when "doing", so when exercises or examples are presented (using MASM or TASM), he goes though all of the nitty gritty details to get you going. The debuggers are covered and used thoughout the book (Debug Workshops) to give the student the required insight to what is going on within the processor/memory.

The writing style is refreshing, upbeat, and there are plenty of diagrams that help convey the concepts. Jones' mastery of the material is unquestioned, and he goes the extra mile to explain things like how an assembler works, from the inside (I haven't seen this in any of the other books I've read). There are many supporting activities that go on "beind the scenes" when using assembly language and Jones' takes the time to explain them. This is the kind of approach that leads to true understanding. There's even advanced topics that experienced assembly language programmers will find interesting.

I highly recommend Jones' book to high school teachers and college professors for their classes. You will not find a better text for TEACHING the material.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars WORST BOOK EVER ! Zero stars ! IRRITATING !, March 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Assembly Language for the IBM PC Family (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

I am a student (not a lazy one; 4.0GPA) and I can assure you that this book was NOT written with students in mind. I am very irritated by how this book is un(organized) and put together carelessly. The examples are HORRIBLE and imcomplete. Somehow I get the feeling that the other reviewers are related to the author because any serious student/programmer/instructor that has thoroughly used this book would certainly avoid it at all costs.

Here are a few irritating things:
Exercises with multiple items are not ordered (like 1.1, 1.2 or a) b) c)... and so on. It takes me more time to check my answers than to really complete the exercises.

In some chapters most of the exercises do NOT have answers.

The author makes you flip back during the explanation several times. I do NOT have time or patience for this.

Also, the information is very superficial and the book focus greatly on using the macros and libraries that come with the included CD, of course, instead of giving you enough to write them yourself.

For any serious programmer, I recommend instead Irvine's book "Assembly language for intel-based computers".

After the semester is over I will burn this and broadcast it over the internet : ) I would not sell it to anyone, not even for a dollar it is not worth it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, August 9, 2006

By 

Varun Rahimtoola "JustAStudent" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Assembly Language for the IBM PC Family (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

This review refers to the 3rd edition. I've used this book for a course on assembly language and found that this book was all I needed to do well in class. I still find myself referring to it every now and then, and it's definitely the best book I have on assembly language. The author also has a very friendly writing style so that definitely helps. Important points are highlighted and placed in boxes so you keep them in mind when programming. Overall it's a great book, I highly recommend it!