Fundamentals of Computer Organization and Architecture (Wiley Series on Parallel and Distributed Computing) [Hardcover]

Mostafa Abd-El-Barr (Author), Hesham El-Rewini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0471467413 | ISBN-13: 978-0471467410 | Edition: 1

This is the first book in the two-volume set offering comprehensive coverage of the field of computer organization and architecture. This book provides complete coverage of the subjects pertaining to introductory courses in computer organization and architecture, including:
* Instruction set architecture and design
* Assembly language programming
* Computer arithmetic
* Processing unit design
* Memory system design
* Input-output design and organization
* Pipelining design techniques
* Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISCs)
The authors, who share over 15 years of undergraduate and graduate level instruction in computer architecture, provide real world applications, examples of machines, case studies and practical experiences in each chapter.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book takes its value from being very well organized, concise, and clear." (CHOICE, July 2005)

"In addition to being an excellent tool for students, this is a thorough and dependable reference for engineers and programmers." (International Journal of General Systems, June 2005)

"...a textbook that is useful as an introduction to computer organization fundamentals…" (Computing Reviews.com, March 10, 2005)

From the Back Cover

An invaluable and comprehensive resource on computer organization and architecture

Typically, instructors of computer organization and architecture courses have had to resort to multiple textbooks as well as supplementary notes to provide students with adequate learning material. Fundamentals of Computer Organization and Architecture provides a more coherent approach by covering all the necessary topics in one single textbook, including:

• Instruction set architecture and design
• Assembly language programming
• Computer arithmetic
• Processing unit design
• Memory system design
• Input-output design and organization
• Pipeline design techniques
• Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISCs)
• Introduction to multiprocessors

This comprehensive and didactic resource provides an introduction to computer systems, including historical background, to provide a context and framework for concepts and applications developed in subsequent chapters; case examples of real-world computer systems that illuminate key concepts and demonstrate practical applications; and exercises, summaries, references, and further reading recommendations at the end of each chapter.

Fundamentals of Computer Organization and Architecture simplifies course material development for instructors with its comprehensive coverage and helps the readers learn faster thanks to its logical organization, clear style, and practical examples. In addition to being an excellent teaching tool for students, this is a thorough and dependable reference for engineers and programmers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (December 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471467413
• ISBN-13: 978-0471467410
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,446,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing..., December 8, 2004

By 

Redmond Geek - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Computer Organization and Architecture (Wiley Series on Parallel and Distributed Computing) (Hardcover)

I was hoping to find an alternative to Patterson et al.'s "Computer Organization and Design" -- mainly to get away from their constant and not-very-subtle "MIPS is better than x86" diatribe.

This book loses one star for bad editing.

It loses another star for being (in places) just plain wrong about details. The authors seem to do fine with "big picture" generalizations, but when it comes to the particulars -- watch out! This problem seems most obvious when they try to talk about the features of real-world CPUs, such as the x86 family. For example, they made a couple statements about Pentium memory management that left me wondering if they had ever read the Intel documentation. In general, their real-world examples seemed to be something that they stuck into the book in order to make it "more relevant."

So, I guess it's back to Patterson, et al.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars After Just 4 Pages, I Already Don't Trust The Authors To Get Anything Right, January 13, 2006

By 

Mr. Jones (Section Zero) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamentals of Computer Organization and Architecture (Wiley Series on Parallel and Distributed Computing) (Hardcover)

First off, there is no such thing as "The interface between the application programs and a high level language...". They might as well have said "The interface between red construction bricks and red clay..." Those things are not distinct entities. One is made of the other. Bricks are made of clay which is shaped by a mold. Application programs are made of bits and pieces of a high level language (that is, the keywords, operators and other syntax elements that the high level language defines) which are "shaped" into the desired form by the source code that the programmer writes. They got the relationship between application programs and languages completely wrong.

At first I thought: OK, maybe these guys are just hardware types who are a little out of their element when it comes to software. That would be somewhat forgivable. Was that the case? Nope.

They proceeded to get wrong something so simple and obvious, that I wonder if any fact checking at all was done on this book. They cited the PowerPC chip as being a CISC processor, when it is actually a RISC processor. Also, they referred to it as "...the IBM and Macintosh PowerPC." The problem? Macintosh does not make the PowerPC chip, it uses it. Nevermind the fact that Macintosh is the name of a product, not of a company. It is IBM and Freescale Semiconductor (formerly known as Motorola's semiconductor division) that make the PowerPC processor chips. This is such basic stuff that even an intern fact checker/proofreader could spot it easily.

After such glaringly obvious errors -- less than 5 pages into the first chapter! -- I have no confidence at all in the ability of the authors to present the complex and sophisticated art of modern computer architecture in an accurate manner.

I am not going to waste any more of my time on this book.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book, May 16, 2007

By 

S. Alterkait "S.T" (Kuwait) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fundamentals of Computer Organization and Architecture (Wiley Series on Parallel and Distributed Computing) (Hardcover)

I studied this book in my IT master program as a textbook for operating system course. It was easy to follow, clear, and simple. Some of other students who study some course but with another textbook they take it from me to its simply. Rich and small size easy to cary any where
i recommende it ..