IBM PC Assembly Language and Programming (5th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Typical computer book, not to be read for the heck of it...
Review: I used this book as a stand-alone for a programming class. I found that for someone who has concentrated mainly on C++ and no background on Assembly language, that it was probably not the best book to try to learn from. I feel that a good bit of information is given in this book that you need to know, but only if you have had SOME experience in this area.

Rating:
Summary: This book is obviously not good for self-study purposes
Review: I used this book as the textbook required in my Assembly class. With the help of this book I had a lot of trouble getting started. It was really killing me. But as I went on reading, I began to understand what the previous chapters were talking about. As I got a hang of it, the book became more and more useful and important to me. So This book is really good after all, but only if you don't give up in the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: This book is not too good as a standalone for beginners
Review: In programming school we are using this book by itself, and it is very hard to understand for a beginner. Many things are just barely touched upon without giving concise examples. The appendices mean well, but there is no place to find centralized references to specific questions. If this is a person's first book on assembly language, I think he/she will find the need for another.

Rating:
Summary: Not exiting, but informative.
Review: The book is a complete reference on assembly language instructions, operands and data types. Sadly, only programming in real mode is covered and protected mode is left out. There also is nothing on DMA. However, the book makes up for this but being crystally clear in it's examples and explanations; the book is meant to serve not only as a reference but also as a tutorial, and therefore has little programs in assembly code scattered around to type in and assemble. At the end of each chapter there are quiz-type questions on the material in case you wish to test your knowledge. Yes, it is possible to learn assembly language well through this book.

Rating:
Summary: Good if you already have a good computer background...
Review: This book covers assembler programming very smoothly and in an easy-to-understand way. It goes step-by-step through each function and INT, giving good examples and explanations. You won't, though, understand it unless you already have some experience with higher-level languages.

Rating:
Summary: a reference book...
Review: This book is not recommended to anyone who just started learning assembly, as they're very hard to understand.
For beginners, I would highly recommend "80x86 IBM PC AND COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS (Volumes I & II)" by Muhammad Ali Mazidi, which also covers the subject thoroughly.

Rating:
Summary: Ok text, but horrible examples
Review: This book is ok reading. As a student, the text is fairly informative, but the examples often are not correct. For example, a sample program in chapter 10, when run, crashes. Many of the examples need proofreading.

Rating:
Summary: Ok text, but horrible examples
Review: This book is ok reading. As a student, the text is fairly informative, but the examples often are not correct. For example, a sample program in chapter 10, when run, crashes. Many of the examples need proofreading.

Rating:
Summary: Ibm pc assembly language and programming
Review: This book taught me to hate assembl

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Overview of Assembly Language
Review: While not perfect for the beginning x86 assembly language programmer, Abel's text is an excellent overview of the basic and intermediate concepts of x86 assembly. This text covers many of the commands of the x86 instruction set and is an excellent introduction to learning about various BIOS and DOS interrupts. Herein lies a slight problem with the text. Relying too heavily on the "old world" of DOS and Windows 95/98 (and possibly - depending on your system - Windows 2000), this text often takes for granted that you are running on an older Microsoft-based x86 system. As long as you can overcome this compatibility "hurdle", this text is an excellent source for learning about x86 assembly. It covers the topic of machine code, which is of prime importance for those who are interested in writing assembler and compilers (and for writing succinct assembly), and also has copious notes on all the instructions taught in the text.