Rating: 
Summary: Seriously Flawed
Review: As a computer science student with 20 years of programming experience, I encountered Peter Abel's book (Fifth Ed.) published by Prentice Hall while taking an Assembly Language programming class.It is, bar none, the single worst computer language and programming resource I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. Not only does it lack critical details about methodology, it fails to include comprehensible explanations about the examples already provided. If it were simply that it was incomprehensible it might still be acceptable as a resource later on when clearer and more concise means of learning the subject are used. But this book contains more out and out flaws than the Beta release of Windows XP. Many of the programs included as examples of a concept in action DO NOT WORK. In fact, there are serious operative flaws in them. Further, several of the questions do not match the terminology found in the text, there are more typos and omissions in this book than in the average High School newspaper and actually learning anything useful and productive from this book alone would take an IQ higher than 180. If someone has years of programming experience IN ASSEMBLY, then it would probably make sense. As an aid to teaching the subject, not only does Mr. Abel miss the mark, he doesn't even aim in the right direction. For a student, this book is the academic equivalent of a twenty car freeway pile-up. Avoid it at all costs.
Rating: 
Summary: Assembly for beginners and beyond
Review: Dear fellow readers:
The concept of writing assembly programs frightens most programmers who have adjusted in writing software in a third generation language (e.g., Pascal, C). In fact I have read two other books in my quest to understand assembly. But this book is definitely the best I have came across. The author has broken down the assembly instructions into many chapters that can be useful in locating the subject of interest, and skipping those that do not pertain to the reader's interest. His explanation of the interrupts and their associated services are uncanny. He has organised them into modular format so that the programmer can write programs as though he/she is connecting a large jigsaw puzzle. To my experience this made reading and writing assembly much easier task.
Rating: 
Summary: Too concise for a college textbook
Review: First, please understand that I purchased this book for a college class in assembly, but I am also a programmer with 15 years professional experience, and some of material is not new to me. I have read a great number of programming books, and with that said, this book has little value beyond reference. It makes brief mention of advanced concepts I am trying to learn, and then jumps elsewhere. The examples are hard to follow, and often to not provide instructions on recreating them. I am purchasing another book to supplement this class, as I will never learn the material from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Truely Poor
Review: For a book that is supposed to be a fifth edition, it is still loaded with errors - general typos and errors in the code examples. The review sections ask questions that are not covered until future chapters. Even the index has errors! On top of all of that, the book does not even comprehensively cover the instruction set. Finding useful information is difficult but not impossible to find. We used this as a college text and if I hadn't already done some assembly programming, I would have been lost. I wouldn't sell this book to another student - if they really want it, I'll GIVE them my copy.
Rating:
Summary: Too Operating System Dependent
Review: I bought this book for the express purpose of learning and programming PC-BIOS Assembly language functions, because I read the 3rd edition of this same book and found it to be excellent. I was severely disappointed to learn that the very chapter I wanted to thoroughly dissect was rewritten from being operating system independent to being operating system dependent, the dependent operating systems being DOS and Windows 95/98. A good deal of the information in this book depends upon these operating systems and will not work with Windows 2000, ME, or XP. The book provides meticulously thorough backgrounds, mundane explanations, and vague and ambiguous examples. Personally, I wish the depth of information was structured completely opposite. If you just want to "learn the ropes" of Assembly and have access to a DOS or Windows 95/98 machine to learn them on, this book will do. If you need something portable, something operating system independent, this book is not for you.
Rating:
Summary: Too Operating System Dependent
Review: I bought this book for the express purpose of learning and programming PC-BIOS Assembly language functions, because I read the 3rd edition of this same book and found it to be excellent. I was severely disappointed to learn that the very chapter I wanted to thoroughly dissect was rewritten from being operating system independent to being operating system dependent, the dependent operating systems being DOS and Windows 95/98. A good deal of the information in this book depends upon these operating systems and will not work with Windows 2000, ME, or XP. The book provides meticulously thorough backgrounds, mundane explanations, and vague and ambiguous examples. Personally, I wish the depth of information was structured completely opposite. If you just want to "learn the ropes" of Assembly and have access to a DOS or Windows 95/98 machine to learn them on, this book will do. If you need something portable, something operating system independent, this book is not for you.
Rating:
Summary: Truely Poor
Review: I picked up Peter Abel's book on assembly after a college course in the language. I wasn't happy with the course and was determined to make the effort spent with assembly more meaningful. Abel's book was difficult to start with, but as I continued on, I appreciated the clarity (yes, clarity) with which the author stepped me through the concepts and programming. There is an initial hump to get over (number systems, etc.) but, if you really want to learn about assembly and use the IBM PC as a tool, Abel's book will prove, I hope, to be as engaging for you as it was for me.
Rating:
Summary: A good but steady read
Review: I picked up Peter Abel's book on assembly after a college course in the language. I wasn't happy with the course and was determined to make the effort spent with assembly more meaningful. Abel's book was difficult to start with, but as I continued on, I appreciated the clarity (yes, clarity) with which the author stepped me through the concepts and programming. There is an initial hump to get over (number systems, etc.) but, if you really want to learn about assembly and use the IBM PC as a tool, Abel's book will prove, I hope, to be as engaging for you as it was for me.
Rating: 
Summary: A book that hard to understand, sluggish examples
Review: I reviewed this book but I found it hard to understand the language that is really hard. It suppose to gather the students around it who want to read the material to understand, like the book i reviewed "Assembly Language for IBM PC Family by Willium B. Jones"
Rating:
Summary: A book that hard to understand, sluggish examples
Review: I reviewed this book but I found it hard to understand the language that is really hard. It suppose to gather the students around it who want to read the material to understand, like the book i reviewed "Assembly Language for IBM PC Family by Willium B. Jones"
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