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The Art of Assembly Language Programming is the World's #1 book on x86 assembly language programming! Thousands upon thousands of programmers have learned assembly language programming using The Art of Assembly Language. You, too, will learn this powerful programming language easier than ever before possible using The Art of Assembly Language Programming (AoA).
No single textbook can be all things to all people. This text is no exception. I've geared this text and the accompanying software to University level students who've never previously learned assembly language programming. This is not to say that others cannot benefit from this work; it simply means that as I've had to make choices about the presentation, I've made choices that should prove most comfortable for this audience I've chosen.
A secondary audience who could benefit from this presentation is any motivated person that really wants to learn assembly language. Although I assume a certain level of mathematical maturity from the reader (i.e., high school algebra), most of the "tough math" in this textbook is incidental to learning assembly language programming and you can easily skip over it without fear that you'll miss too much. High school students and those who haven't seen a school in 40 years have effectively used this text (and its DOS counterpart) to learn assembly language programming.
The organization of this text reflects the diverse audience for which it is intended. For example, in a standard textbook each chapter typically has its own set of questions, programming exercises, and laboratory exercises. Since the primary audience for this text is University students, such pedagogical material does appear within this text. However, recognizing that not everyone who reads this text wants to bother with this material (e.g., downloading it), this text moves such pedagogical material to the end of each volume in the text and places this material in a separate chapter. This is somewhat of an unusual organization, but I feel that University instructors can easily adapt to this organization and it saves burdening those who aren't interested in this material.
One audience to whom this book is specifically not directed are those persons who are already comfortable programming in 80x86 assembly language. Undoubtedly, there is a lot of material such programmers will find of use in this textbook. However, my experience suggests that those who've already learned x86 assembly language with an assembler like MASM, TASM, or NASM rebel at the thought of having to relearn basic assembly language syntax (as they would to have to learn HLA). If you fall into this category, I humbly apologize for not writing a text more to your liking. However, my goal has always been to teach those who don't already know assembly language, not extend the education of those who do. If you happen to fall into this category and you don't particularly like this text's presentation, there is some good news: there are dozens of texts on assembly language programming that use MASM and TASM out there. So you don't really need this one.
The first thing any instructor will notice when reviewing this text is that it's far too large for any reasonable course. That's because assembly language courses generally come in two flavors: a machine organization course (more hardware oriented) and an assembly language programming course (more software oriented). No text that is "just the right size" is suitable for both types of classes. Combining the information for both courses, plus advanced information students may need after they finish the course, produces a large text, like this one.
If you're an instructor with a limited schedule for teaching this subject, you'll have to carefully select the material you choose to present over the time span of your course. To help, I've included some brief notes at the beginning of each Volume in this text that suggests whether a chapter in that Volume is appropriate for a machine organization course, an assembly language programming course, or an advanced assembly programming course. These brief course notes can help you choose which chapters you want to cover in your course.
If you would like to offer hard copies of this text in the bookstore for your students, I will attempt to arrange with some "Custom Textbook Publishing" houses to make this material available on an "as-requested" basis. As I work out arrangements with such outfits, I'll post ordering information on Webster ( http://webster.cs.ucr.edu ). If your school has a printing and reprographics department, or you have a local business that handles custom publishing, you can certainly request copyright clearance to print the text locally.
If you're not taking a formal course, just keep in mind that you don't have to read this text straight through, chapter by chapter. If you want to learn assembly language programming and some of the machine organization chapters seem a little too hardware oriented for your tastes, feel free to skip those chapters and come back to them later on, when you understand the need to learn this information.
The Art of Assembly Language Programming is the World's #1 book on x86 assembly language programming! Thousands upon thousands of programmers have learned assembly language programming using The Art of Assembly Language. You, too, will learn this powerful programming language easier than ever before possible using The Art of Assembly Language Programming (AoA).
No single textbook can be all things to all people. This text is no exception. I've geared this text and the accompanying software to University level students who've never previously learned assembly language programming. This is not to say that others cannot benefit from this work; it simply means that as I've had to make choices about the presentation, I've made choices that should prove most comfortable for this audience I've chosen.
A secondary audience who could benefit from this presentation is any motivated person that really wants to learn assembly language. Although I assume a certain level of mathematical maturity from the reader (i.e., high school algebra), most of the "tough math" in this textbook is incidental to learning assembly language programming and you can easily skip over it without fear that you'll miss too much. High school students and those who haven't seen a school in 40 years have effectively used this text (and its DOS counterpart) to learn assembly language programming.
The organization of this text reflects the diverse audience for which it is intended. For example, in a standard textbook each chapter typically has its own set of questions, programming exercises, and laboratory exercises. Since the primary audience for this text is University students, such pedagogical material does appear within this text. However, recognizing that not everyone who reads this text wants to bother with this material (e.g., downloading it), this text moves such pedagogical material to the end of each volume in the text and places this material in a separate chapter. This is somewhat of an unusual organization, but I feel that University instructors can easily adapt to this organization and it saves burdening those who aren't interested in this material.
One audience to whom this book is specifically not directed are those persons who are already comfortable programming in 80x86 assembly language. Undoubtedly, there is a lot of material such programmers will find of use in this textbook. However, my experience suggests that those who've already learned x86 assembly language with an assembler like MASM, TASM, or NASM rebel at the thought of having to relearn basic assembly language syntax (as they would to have to learn HLA). If you fall into this category, I humbly apologize for not writing a text more to your liking. However, my goal has always been to teach those who don't already know assembly language, not extend the education of those who do. If you happen to fall into this category and you don't particularly like this text's presentation, there is some good news: there are dozens of texts on assembly language programming that use MASM and TASM out there. So you don't really need this one.
The first thing any instructor will notice when reviewing this text is that it's far too large for any reasonable course. That's because assembly language courses generally come in two flavors: a machine organization course (more hardware oriented) and an assembly language programming course (more software oriented). No text that is "just the right size" is suitable for both types of classes. Combining the information for both courses, plus advanced information students may need after they finish the course, produces a large text, like this one.
If you're an instructor with a limited schedule for teaching this subject, you'll have to carefully select the material you choose to present over the time span of your course. To help, I've included some brief notes at the beginning of each Volume in this text that suggests whether a chapter in that Volume is appropriate for a machine organization course, an assembly language programming course, or an advanced assembly programming course. These brief course notes can help you choose which chapters you want to cover in your course.
If you would like to offer hard copies of this text in the bookstore for your students, I will attempt to arrange with some "Custom Textbook Publishing" houses to make this material available on an "as-requested" basis. As I work out arrangements with such outfits, I'll post ordering information on Webster ( http://webster.cs.ucr.edu ). If your school has a printing and reprographics department, or you have a local business that handles custom publishing, you can certainly request copyright clearance to print the text locally.
If you're not taking a formal course, just keep in mind that you don't have to read this text straight through, chapter by chapter. If you want to learn assembly language programming and some of the machine organization chapters seem a little too hardware oriented for your tastes, feel free to skip those chapters and come back to them later on, when you understand the need to learn this information.
