Assembly Language Step-by-step: Programming with DOS and Linux (with CD-ROM)

The bestselling guide to assembly language-now updated and expanded to include coverage of Linux

This new edition of the bestselling guide to assembly programming now covers DOS and Linux! The Second Edition begins with a highly accessible overview of the internal operations of the Intel-based PC and systematically covers all the steps involved in writing, testing, and debugging assembly programs.

Expert author Jeff Duntemann then presents working example programs for both the DOS and Linux operating systems using the popular free assembler NASM. He also includes valuable information on how to use procedures and macros, plus rare explanations of assembly-level coding for Linux, all of which combine to offer a comprehensive look at the complexities of assembly programming for Intel processors.

Providing you with the foundation to create executable assembly language programs, this book:
* Explains how to use NASM-IDE, a simple program editor and assembly-oriented development environment
* Details the most used elements of the 86-family instruction set
* Teaches about DEBUG, the single most useful tool you have as an assembly language programmer
* Examines the operations that machine instructions force the CPU to perform
* Discusses the process of memory addressing
* Covers coding for Linux

The CD-ROM includes:
* Net-Wide Assembler (NASM) for both DOS and Linux
* NASM-IDE, a command shell and code editor for DOS
* ALINK, a free linker for DOS programming
* All program code examples from the book

User review
Brilliant Book
This is a book I would highly recommend, and already have recommended, to anyone with an interest in what goes on under the hood of computers. It's written very clearly, starts at the very begining and assumes nothing. Having said that, if you have some knowledge you won't mind reading through the bits you already know because the book is very humerous and enjoyable to read. Definitely the best text book I have read in a long time.

User review
Excellent Beginner Assembly Language Book
I found this book to be very good and although I am using FreeDos 1.0 it is accurate all the way. As Free Dos is a clone of MSDOS you get all the
benefits from the book, like being able to access video memory directly, use the BIOS and DOS interrupts, and learn how to program in Assembly Language. Check out FreeDos org if you are a DOS fan.

I recommend this book for beginning Assembly Language programmers.

User review
A Dissapointment
I started a personal campaign to teach myself assembly language, and searched out books that might help. I bought this book because I own a number of `Step-By-Step` books and the blurb sounded good. Unfortunatly, it turned out to be a dissapointment.

The author prides himself on the fact that he uses an `unusual` method to teach a hard subject, and equally proud that he will not do a `complete` job. And then proceeds to work on chapter after chapter of thin analogy without actually getting to real assembly programming. Now I'm all for `unusual` methods of teaching, but only when they actually work. Reading this book left me more confused than ever.

And of course, to top it off, it's about 10 years old.

I really hate to spend more time on this book, but I wanted to express at least a little bit of my opinion. If I would recommend a book, this other one is worth the money. I even found out that ASU uses it as a textbook, and it's cheaper on amazon.

Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)

Additionally, I'd do a google search for winasm, radasm and masm32. All three have wonderful forums to help people learn how to create assembly programs.

User review
THIS BOOK SHOULD BE TITLE `PRE-ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE` !!!
This book is a MUST for anyone taking Assembly Language in a computer science class. Most books on assembly language leave out some VERY important information. Most programming languages are basically the same and require the same logic to use. There is a an important difference between assembly language and other languages like C or Java.

Just like a procedural language like C and an object-oriented languages like C++ or Small Talk requires a difference thought process, so does Assembly Language versus C++ or C#. Jeff does a masterful and humorous job of bridging that gap.

This book shouldn't be titled `Assembly Language Step by Step` it should be called `Pre-Assembly Language.` The book actually teaches very little Assembly Language, instead, it teaches foundational corner stones such as memory models, CPU function, memory access, binary and hexadecimal numbering systems, and registers. These things are generally glossed over in most text books, yet end up being the most important part. Jeff realized this flaw in other books and wrote this classic. The time to get this book is a semester BEFORE you take a class in Assembly Language, THEN that class in Assembly Language will make more sense. Especially if your going to learn Assembly Language on Intel's 80x86 architecture.

If you're going to learn MIPS or RISC processor assembly language, I'd still recommend Jeff's book. But, I'd also get `SPARC Architecture, Assembly Language Programming, & C` by Richard P. Paul. Richard does a great job like Jeff, but orients his text toward RISC computers.

I HAVE A COUPLE OF WARNINGS: Jeff recommends `Mastering Turbo Assembler` by Tom Swan as the next step. This recommendation is seriously out of date. You can't by Borland Turbo-Assembler new anymore, and the book deals with mostly 16-bit code. Instead, you should get `Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers` by Kip Irving. This text is up to date with 32-bit code.

Jeff also recommends a book by Michael Abrash. Though Mike's `Black Book` was a great text, it's out of date. I'd recommend that instead you buy `Code Optimization: Effective Memory Usage` by Kris Kaspersky since it's more up to date,,

IMPORTANT TO PURCHASERS: Jeff's book `Assembly Language Step by Step` comes with a disk with NASM and programs examples. Unfortunately, they're `READ-ONLY` when you copy them from the disk to the hard drive. You have to change the attribute on every single file to get the program to work. Still NASM and the NASM-IDE are a great addition to the book. If you remove the `READ-ONLY` attribute, you should have no problem.

I hope Jeff will come out with a Third edition to this classic. `Assembly Language Step by Step` should be required as a prerequisite to any Assembly Language class.

User review
First 150 pages rambling, without a hint on the real thing.
At page 151, author said `That's why I began at the real beginning, and took 150 pages to get to where the other guys start.`

That is really true, 150 pages wasted!!!

The author is trying to be funny, but actually made it look even worse.
If you are interested in assembly language, there are several online tutorials which are actually much better than this book.