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_rg's review against another edition
4.0
This is an overall fantastic book. I will start recommending this book to others now. It is that good.
He tries to explain all the levels of a computer, and he does so efficiently and beautifully.
The only problem that I have with this book is the chapter "Two Classic Microprocessors". There wasn't much to learn. Only huge walls of text was shoved down the throat of the readers. It was unnecessarily long and descriptive in an annoying way. What was the need? The author could have just talked about these and then moved on, but he elaborated on these, quoted and explained the literature that accompanied these processors. It was very boring. That's why I reduced a star.
This book answers so many questions that you might have as a user of computing devices. You get answers to many questions reading this. Such questions bug you for a long time, but you are too reluctant to look them up.
You get clear knowledge of buses and registers, which are taught in colleges, but college education suffers from elementitis. The smaller components are never brought together for the students. This book does that job. This book describes and teaches all major and important components, and then put them together to build a whole, functioning computer. That is wonderful. This book should be read for this reason alone.
If you are interested in actually building a comluter from ground-up, check out Noam Nissan's Elements of Computing Systems. Here, you will be building a computer yourself, from scratch.
He tries to explain all the levels of a computer, and he does so efficiently and beautifully.
The only problem that I have with this book is the chapter "Two Classic Microprocessors". There wasn't much to learn. Only huge walls of text was shoved down the throat of the readers. It was unnecessarily long and descriptive in an annoying way. What was the need? The author could have just talked about these and then moved on, but he elaborated on these, quoted and explained the literature that accompanied these processors. It was very boring. That's why I reduced a star.
This book answers so many questions that you might have as a user of computing devices. You get answers to many questions reading this. Such questions bug you for a long time, but you are too reluctant to look them up.
You get clear knowledge of buses and registers, which are taught in colleges, but college education suffers from elementitis. The smaller components are never brought together for the students. This book does that job. This book describes and teaches all major and important components, and then put them together to build a whole, functioning computer. That is wonderful. This book should be read for this reason alone.
If you are interested in actually building a comluter from ground-up, check out Noam Nissan's Elements of Computing Systems. Here, you will be building a computer yourself, from scratch.
gwit's review
4.0
1st edition, 5 stars read late 1999 / early 2000 (?)
2nd edition read 2023. Some areas expanded and improved; however, a lot of sections get bogged down in too much detail for my liking.
Overall, this book does a great job of explaining how computers perform functions and store information at a very fundamental level and starting from absolute basics.
2nd edition read 2023. Some areas expanded and improved; however, a lot of sections get bogged down in too much detail for my liking.
Overall, this book does a great job of explaining how computers perform functions and store information at a very fundamental level and starting from absolute basics.
ztaylor4's review against another edition
4.0
Code follows the conceptual journey of building a modern(ish) computer starting with pieces of wire and batteries--an incredible achievement. Some parts of this book I really loved.
Of course the book is also a bit dated. If this were an issue of not making it all the way to the present day, that would hardly be a fault. However, some of the assembly language sections really dragged on, and I had to bring my rating down from five stars. I'd recommend the book if the subject interests you. Then just skim those sections.
Of course the book is also a bit dated. If this were an issue of not making it all the way to the present day, that would hardly be a fault. However, some of the assembly language sections really dragged on, and I had to bring my rating down from five stars. I'd recommend the book if the subject interests you. Then just skim those sections.
isaacrm's review
5.0
Five stars for this book, which is a must read if you're into computer science.
I read this book many years ago when it first came out, so I decided to read the newer edition as a refresher. This is a great book that explains how computers work by going through the process of building a computer (theoretically).
The best thing of this book is that each chapter teaches you something that you probably didn't know or forgot, so it's a must read for all computer scientists.
I read this book many years ago when it first came out, so I decided to read the newer edition as a refresher. This is a great book that explains how computers work by going through the process of building a computer (theoretically).
The best thing of this book is that each chapter teaches you something that you probably didn't know or forgot, so it's a must read for all computer scientists.
andgineer's review against another edition
5.0
Отличное введение которое должен прочитать (в детстве) каждый программист.
Я в своем детстве прочитал что-то очень похожее в журнале Радио.
Современные тенденции таковы, что программисты все более отдаляются от железа. Сейчас даже сисадмины (простите, девопсы) могут вообще не видеть компьютеров физически и только управлять ими удаленно.
Но просто для самоуважения надо понимать, что в итоге происходит с вашим замечательным программным кодом. А по-моему мнению это еще и делает вас более профессиональным специалистом.
Про книгу. Признаюсь, я не смог ее прочитать. Мне сейчас это уже скучно. Но я пролистал достаточно, чтобы увидеть, что это очень правильное и понятное описание всех нужных деталей. Примерно такое, как я читал в журнале Радио.
Детали важны - чтобы было реальное понимание всех деталей, как это работает.
При всей дотошности текст вполне читаемый. Автор не заигрывает с читателем, не сюсюкается, хотя и понятно по содержанию что текст для подростков.
Я в своем детстве прочитал что-то очень похожее в журнале Радио.
Современные тенденции таковы, что программисты все более отдаляются от железа. Сейчас даже сисадмины (простите, девопсы) могут вообще не видеть компьютеров физически и только управлять ими удаленно.
Но просто для самоуважения надо понимать, что в итоге происходит с вашим замечательным программным кодом. А по-моему мнению это еще и делает вас более профессиональным специалистом.
Про книгу. Признаюсь, я не смог ее прочитать. Мне сейчас это уже скучно. Но я пролистал достаточно, чтобы увидеть, что это очень правильное и понятное описание всех нужных деталей. Примерно такое, как я читал в журнале Радио.
Детали важны - чтобы было реальное понимание всех деталей, как это работает.
При всей дотошности текст вполне читаемый. Автор не заигрывает с читателем, не сюсюкается, хотя и понятно по содержанию что текст для подростков.