I just finished my Computer Architecture final, and I'm really struggling to grasp assembly code. I find it super interesting but just can't seem to get it to click for me. I'm hoping to find some book or video recommendations that could help. Any suggestions?
5 Answers
Sometimes, looking at old video game code can help too. Many NES games were programmed in assembly, and diving into that could give you some real-world context about how assembly is used effectively.
For specific book recommendations, I found Ed Jorgensen's book on x86_64 assembly to be very helpful. It's available as an open textbook. And for ARM architecture, "ARM System-on-Chip Architecture" by Steve Furber is fantastic too: it provides examples that will help bridge the gap between C and ARM assembly.
Check out "Hacking: The Art of Exploitation". It dives into C code and its disassembled version, showcasing some really interesting concepts and potential exploits. There's a good section on C programming, solid explanations about assembly, and it's packed with valuable learning experiences. Plus, it even has a link to download an older, vulnerable Ubuntu distribution for practical practice! This book really helped me visualize how my C code translates into assembly and the real implications of the code I write for the processor.
You might want to explore games like Human Resource Machine. It's a fun way to get familiar with programming concepts using assembly since it involves programming puzzles. Also, for further understanding, try out the Game Virtual Circuit Board (VCB) - it includes its own assembly creator tool and comes with tutorials to illustrate how it all works.
There are some great resources on YouTube where people build 8-bit or 16-bit computers from scratch. These videos often include discussions about the instruction sets, and they might give you a clearer idea of how assembly works on a hardware level. Ultimately, assembly is just another programming language; you just have to roll up your sleeves to do a lot more manual work than you typically would with higher-level languages.
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