Welcome to PGUBook!

Copyright © 2003 by Jonathan Bartlett

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in Appendix H. In addition, you are granted full rights to use the code examples for any purpose without even having to credit the authors. All trademarks are property of their respective owners.

This book can be purchased at http://www.bartlettpublishing.com.

The original sources of the book are stored at https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/pgubook.

Contents:

• 1. Welcome to Programming
  • 1.1. Your Tools
• 2. Computer Architecture
  • 2.1. Structure of Computer Memory
  • 2.2. The CPU
  • 2.3. Some Terms
  • 2.4. Interpreting Memory
  • 2.5. Data Accessing Methods
  • 2.6. Review
• 3. Your First Program
  • 3.1. Entering in the Program
  • 3.2. Outline of an Assembly Language Program
  • 3.3. Planning the Program
  • 3.4. Finding a Maximum Value
  • 3.5. Addressing Modes
  • 3.6. Review
• 4. All About Functions
  • 4.1. Dealing with Complexity
  • 4.2. How Functions Work
  • 4.3. Assembly-Language Functions using the C Calling Convention
  • 4.4. A Function Example
  • 4.5. Recursive Functions
  • 4.6. Review
• 5. Dealing with Files
  • 5.1. The UNIX file concept
  • 5.2. Buffers and .bss
  • 5.3. Standard and Special Files
  • 5.4. Using Files in a Program
  • 5.5. Review
• 6. Reading and Writing Simple Records
  • 6.1. Writing Records
  • 6.2. Reading Records
  • 6.3. Modifying the Records
  • 6.4. Review
• 7. Developing Robust Programs
  • 7.1. Where Does the Time Go?
  • 7.2. Some Tips for Developing Robust Programs
  • 7.3. Handling Errors Effectively
  • 7.4. Making Our Program More Robust
  • 7.5. Review
• 8. Sharing Functions with Code Libraries
  • 8.1. Using a Shared Library
  • 8.2. How Shared Libraries Work
  • 8.3. Finding Information about Libraries
  • 8.4. Useful Functions
  • 8.5. Building a Shared Library
  • 8.6. Review
• 9. Intermediate Memory Topics
  • 9.1. How a Computer Views Memory
  • 9.2. The Memory Layout of a Linux Program
  • 9.3. Every Memory Address is a Lie
  • 9.4. Getting More Memory
  • 9.5. A Simple Memory Manager
  • 9.6. Using our Allocator
  • 9.7. More Information
  • 9.8. Review
• 10. Counting Like a Computer
  • 10.1. Counting
  • 10.2. Other Numbering Systems
  • 10.3. Review
• 11. High-Level Languages
  • 11.1. Compiled and Interpreted Languages
  • 11.2. Perl
  • 11.3. Python
  • 11.4. Review
• 12. Optimization
  • 12.1. When to Optimize
  • 12.2. Where to Optimize
  • 12.3. Local Optimizations
  • 12.4. Global Optimization
  • 12.5. Review
• 13. Moving On from Here
  • 13.1. From the Bottom Up
  • 13.2. From the Top Down
  • 13.3. From the Middle Out
  • 13.4. Specialized Topics
  • 13.5. Further Resources on Assembly Language
• 14. Appendix
  • 14.1. Common x86 Instructions
  • 14.2. Important System Calls
  • 14.3. Table of ASCII Codes
  • 14.4. C Idioms in Assembly Language
  • 14.5. Using the GDB Debugger
  • 14.6. Document History
  • 14.7. GNU Free Documentation License
  • 14.8. Personal Dedication

Indices and tables

• Index

• Module Index

• Search Page