Customer Reviews

Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution 2-Volume Set

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I took Fred Brooks' Advanced Computer Architecture course years ago in graduate school. My father said, quite correctly, that it was like taking a theology course from Jesus. This book, in its then-preprint form, was the text, and I eventually wore my photocopied version out completely. (Thank goodness it finally came out in conventional binding.)

I am now a software architect, doing internet work in Java. I don't think I can work for an hour without referring to some concept that Fred taught in the course, or in this book.

Read it. Study it. The only thing that could be better would be to take the course from Fred.

This 1000-page book is a tour-de-force of computer architecture design principles. I learned from and then taught several graduate computer science classes using the manuscript several years ago, and have always considered it to be the definitive work in the field. It certainly guided my work in co-architecting the Alpha computer systems.

While at first brush many of the examples seem dated (the book only discusses the first computer in a series, such as the 8086 rather than the Pentium), upon further reflection one realizes that the design principles are instead timeless.

This book is longer than "War and Peace" and is not a light read, but many buyers will keep and use it for a lifetime.