Introduction to Computing Systems : from Bits & Gates to C & Beyond, hc, 2001

by Yale N. Patt

Excellent Book

Genres: Computer Science, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Programming, Computers, Technology, School

526 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Wayland He · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took the class but only touched on the bare basics 2 years ago. I then reread this book again because I felt like I didn't have a strong understanding of computer systems. I was able to understand everything and it helped me immensely in the upper division classes I'm taking this year. I recommend this book to anyone who is self-teaching themselves because it also comes with solutions to the problems online.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first three chapters of this book are covered in other texts both more succinctly or more with depth so it really doesn’t serve any needs in this text if you've been exposed to those already. I suggest finding a good digital logic book and working through that, skipping those chapters. After this the book comes into its own. Chapter 4, 5 13, 16 and appendix A are required for anyone learning about computer architecture in my opinion. This is a good self study text as it has a lot of breadth but not much depth, except in some things. In the chapters I mentioned the book went into a lot of detail in subjects that many books don’t seem too.

The book attempts to teach computer programming from the hardware up and is quite ambitious. The age of the text does show but the ideas are quite timeless. This is a good companion to patterson and hennessy computer organization text.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wanted to know how your computer really works? This textbook is really easy to read and does a thorough job of moving from transistors to gates to memory to assembly to the C programming language! The exercise questions are very challenging and will really make you think about how CPUs implement certain commands. This is a very enlightening book and it's probably the few textbooks I've read that I enjoyed reading.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not helpful. The first chapter was great, but it went downhill after that. I find it hard to read because it is full of technical language. The LC-3 programs it shows aren't great examples either. There must be something better than this.

[Eugene ghaiklor Obrezkov · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can say for sure that this book is definitely for uni (no surprise here, the authors are literally telling about it there). So, while it was funny to refresh my memories, I've skipped some of the chapters that were fresh in my mind.

Now, regard the content. I think that the first part of the book is OK. You got the info on transistors, boolean algebra, logic, etc. Everything needed to have an overall view of hardware.

However, the second part of the book is not something I can share understanding with. That's just an introduction into C language. What I was expecting to see there is more information on how exactly high-level languages are being translated into the low-level language. While there was an information on the subject of main components of compilation, it would be really great to have some hands-on little project to create your own compiler for the LC-3. Instead, there is just a small info on compiler theory and lots of info on C language.

Taking into account all of it, I would say the book is OK for pupils who are just getting into the field. You get everything needed to bootstrap, but for sure, you'll need a few more books to cover the subject more in depth.

[Iurii Mednikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read this title during studying an undergraduate course in computer science. The book is written in a solid academic manner and covers a lot of material. However, a number of concepts could be explained much better - the "Thinking low level, writing high level" series could serve you better if you need to understand how computing systems work under the hood.

[Kevin Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't stuff i particularly need to know but it added context to my higher-level programming (and some reading about semiconductor design companies). Most textbooks are a bit of a slog but I actually looked forward to opening this one and felt like most pages taught me something new.

[Huy Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not my favorite book. I still do not get the purpose of me having to read this book.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The text for my CIT 593 class. Pretty easy to follow and think it does a pretty solid job going from the base components all the way to basic high levels language programming with C.

[Timo Brønseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if it's due to the nature of the subject, but in any case, this book was surprisingly well-structured. What used to be magic to me has now been reduced to bits and pieces that I can actually understand. The LC-3 is fantastic toy and explanatory device; I'm glad they included it. It's is the most enjoyable textbook I've consumed.

Philosophers should read this as a less controversial lesson in reductionism than neuroscience.

[Nicky Lim]

textbook for ECE 120 and 220. Good book on digital logic, assembly language -- LC3 used --- and introduction to C, touching on memory management.

[Dwight Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Low level analysis of computer architecture.