This text uses an instruction-level approach to defining thearchitecture of a computer system. The student is expected to know ahigher-level language. C would be best, since the higher-level languageexamples are written in C. Each of the 17 chaptersincludes a problem set and a summary section. An instructor’s manual isavailable via a Web site.

The first two chapters introduce computer basics and somehistorical background. The next chapter introduces a Simplified AssemblyLanguage (SASM), which is used for all the assembly language examplesuntil chapter 10, where a portion of the instruction set for the Pentiumis introduced, leaving out the more esoteric instructions.

Four chapters deal with data, covering number systems,representation in the computer, floating point (IEEE standard), and datastructures; the chapter on data structures discusses one- andtwo-dimensional arrays, stacks, and queues. A chapter covers logicoperations and integer arithmetic. Chapter 9 introduces registers toSASM, which has been memory-to-memory until this point. Chapter 10introduces some of the Intel Pentium instruction set and addressingmodes, and the flat memory model used. Chapter 11 introduces proceduresusing the Pentium instructions with the stack architecture to supportprocedures for return addresses and parameter passing. Chapter 12 dealswith the mechanics of the assembly process, from the source code to thelinked executable. The input/output chapter touches on programming forI/O using busy wait, asynchronous, andDMA. Interrupts and exceptions are considered in thenext chapter, which also provides a simplified view of the Pentium’stechnique.

A chapter introduces performance issues for the instruction setdesign, pipelining, and memory hierarchies (cache). A perspectivechapter briefly discusses a few machines from the historical and designviewpoints. The last chapter touches on virtual memory concepts and thesupport required to implement virtual memory.

The author introduces computer architecture by approaching it fromthe instruction level and stops at the concept of a register forhardware. No hardware below the register is discussed. The subtitleusing the Intel Pentiumshould not lead you to believe that you will learn how toprogram this processor in its assembly language, since many instructionsare omitted from the text.