The Essentials of Computer Organization And Architecture (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Computer Science

Product Details

• Hardcover: 700 pages
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Pub; 2 edition (February 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763737690
• ISBN-13: 978-0763737696
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #90,025 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essentials of Computer Org/Arch: It's About Time, April 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture (Hardcover)

As a teacher, I wasn't too thrilled about yet another computer organization and architecture book. However, this one is different. It is written from a computer science point of view and it aimed at a one semester sequence course. After attending SIGCSE, I was aware of the new Computing Curriculum 2001. This book appears to follow that curriculum, even in the amount of hours recommended per topic.

If you are looking for a computer engineering book, this one probably won't be top on your list. However, the selection of topics for both computer science (and information systems) is perfect. If you are looking for an org/arch reference book, this would be a good candidate.

Strong points: Concise, clear writing style (easy for students to understand); lots of examples; many exercises, at varying levels of difficulty; good breadth for a one course sequence; logical organization; simple "learning" architecture (with simulation software); up-to-date errata (on book web page).

Potential weak points: If you teach more than 2-3 weeks of assembly language programming, you'll have to supplement with a different book; all software is in Java (I don't consider this a weakness, but some people may).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference and introductory book, August 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture (Hardcover)

I'm a computer practioneer and know a little about computer hardware, but not much. For the novice reader, this book is great! It is written well, and is thorough in its coverage. I think it's a great reference book (even though it was apparently written as a textbook for teaching) and have used it multiple times in my job already.

I recommend this textbook for those "beginners" who need a good introduction to computer organization and hardware or for those who need a refresher.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Book, October 24, 2005

By	Siddhardha (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture (Hardcover)

I used this book for a course in Computer Architecture. Except for one chapter, I read the entire book and I practiced almost all the exercises. As a novice reader, I liked the book very much. The book is very well organized, chapters are laid out in logical sequence and the writing style is very clear. Many illustrations are presented in the book that make it easy to understand concepts. Many examples are presented in special cases that help the student understand complicated stuff. Overall I am very much pleased with this book. The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is because the answers to the exercises listed at the back of the book had errors in them (I confirmed this fact after checking with my instructor) and these are not fixed even in the last edition. Highly recommended to those who are new to this topic.