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Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware Software Interface, Third Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and...
Books: Computers: Hardware: Item 5
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Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware Software Interface, Third Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and...by David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful: Very Informative, But Has Many Editing Problems, March 18, 2005 Reviewer:David A. Lessnau (Niceville, FL USA) - This is a tough book to review. On one hand, it's got an amazing amount of information in it. On the other, it's got a lot of editing problems. It also suffers from a lack of focus on who its audience is. So, splitting the difference, I'm rating this book at 4 stars out of 5. Regarding the book's audience, it's vital that you pay attention to the chart on page xiii of the Preface. It maps your path through the book based on whether you're a software-type or a hardware-type. Assuming I was so brilliant that I could ignore such trivia, I attempted to plow my way through the whole book. Software-type that I am, I had some tough times in a couple of sections and then utterly failed to understand anything when I hit the core of Chapter 5. If I had paid attention to that chart, I would have known to skip that part of the book. However, even for the material that's within the path laid out for you by that chart, a lot of the work seems to assume knowledge on the part of the reader. For instance: - Chapter 2 is about the MIPS assembly language. In the exercises, you're supposed to write various code snippets. Many of these snippets assume far more familiarity with writing entire assembly programs than is presented. - The exercises at the end of each chapter are broken into three types: regular, "For More Practice," and "In More Depth." Those last two types require far more knowledge than is presented. It looks like the authors culled them from previous editions and, instead of trashing them, just stuck them on the CD and referenced them. - Exercise 3.9 is annotated as requiring Section 3.2. But, unless you're very familiar with the implementation of MIPS assembly language, there's no way that someone using the material in that section alone could do the problem. - Exercise 3.13 is annotated as requiring Section 3.3. Yet, the question is completely undoable unless you've at least read Appendix B. Of course, Appendix B, itself, is practically indecipherable unless you've had previous experience/knowledge with Logic Design. - Exercises 7.21, 7.22 and 7.38 talk about "the first 1 million references in a trace of gcc." The book contains no definition of what that means. Those questions also mention the cache simulator "dinero" and say, "see the Preface of this book for information on how to obtain them." There's no such information in the Preface or on the CD. The CD does have MipsIt software which includes a cache simulator, but it doesn't seem to work reliably on my XP SP2 system (it also doesn't seem to accept those "traces" as input). That could be operator error, though. Doing a Google search pointed me to max.stanford.edu as a source of the software and traces. But, it seems you have to have a Linux system (or be smarter than me) to use them. - Exercise 7.35 gives a C code snippet and asks you to calculate the expected cache miss rate. There's nothing in the book about calculating expected miss rates from algorithms. Also, the exercise is assigned partially against section 7.4. Section 7.4 covers virtual memory, not caches. - Most of the Chapter 8 exercises are mis-referenced (i.e., they're labeled as being associated with certain sections of the chapter which have nothing to do with the question). Along with the standard problem of assuming knowledge that's not covered in the book, many of them teach new information instead of testing/re-enforcing comprehension of the provided material. There are many incorrect page number and section number references in the book. This is especially bad in the exercises where it becomes impossible to do certain ones since the code and data they're referencing isn't findable (at least easily). This problem does seem to get better as you get to the later chapters. There are also problems with basic typography. Some examples: - Exercise 3.29 wants the reader to come up with a non-restoring division algorithm based on the restoring division algorithm in Figure 3.11 on page 185. The figure and page numbers are right, but the text of the question refers to "step 3b" and "restoring the Remainder" that aren't present there. So, there's no way to figure out what the authors are doing or what they want the reader to do in the exercise. - Many of the tables and diagrams in the book use "color" to help indicate something important. Unfortunately, the color used is dark blue. Unless you look very carefully, there's no difference between the regular text/line color (black) and the "emphasized" version. - The text description of Figure 7.31 on page 544 mentions labeled sections that show differences in performance based on cache associativity. The labels are missing. - Exercise 7.45 gives you a C snippet that you're supposed to document. It contains "!!" as an operator. C has no such operator. My guess is it's either a logical AND, "&&", or a logical OR, "||". Also, the chapters are WAY too long and there are no exercises following the sections. For instance, Chapter 2 is 100 pages long over 20 sections. All the exercises (59 of them) are clumped together in the back of the chapter. The authors note the necessary section numbers with these exercises, but each section needs its own set of exercises immediately following it. This would also alleviate the problem where the authors have the wrong section numbers assigned to exercises. If these exercises were at the end of a section instead of clumped with 60 other exercises at the back of the chapter, they'd stand out more if they didn't belong. And, finally, the book needs answers to the questions. As an aside, this book is used in Florida State University's (FSU) CDA 3101: Computer Organization course.
Product Review
The choice of Real Stuff is judicious. The computers in the Real World sections are interesting to read and should widen the horizons of the too often too tech-oriented Sophomores and Juniors. On the whole this is a very solid book and the success of the third edition is assured as has been the success of its two predecessors.
Jean-Loup Baer, University of Washington
I am very impressed with the new sections 'Computers in the Real World.' It is very interesting and speaks to the students who would like to feel a connection between classroom materials and real-world applications. I am very pleased with the manuscript for the third edition. This revision is well-updated and a comprehensive introduction to the hardware and software fundamentals.
David Brooks, Harvard University
The logical development and explanations and examples were always great to begin with. The Historical Perspectives have become even better-- they are part of the book that I enjoy most.
David Harris, Harvey Mudd
Book Description
In addition to thoroughly updating every aspect of the text to reflect the most current computing technology, the third edition
*Uses standard 32-bit MIPS 32 as the primary teaching ISA.
*Presents the assembler-to-HLL translations in both C and Java.
*Highlights the latest developments in architecture in Real Stuff sections:
+ Intel IA-32
+ Power PC 604
+ Googles PC cluster
+ Pentium P4
+ SPEC CPU2000 benchmark suite for processors
+ SPEC Web99 benchmark for web servers
+ EEMBC benchmark for embedded systems
+ AMD Opteron memory hierarchy
+ AMD vs. 1A-64
New support for distinct course goals
Many of the adopters who have used our book throughout its two editions are refining their courses with a greater hardware or software focus. We have provided new material to support these course goals:
New material to support a Hardware Focus
+Using logic design conventions
+Designing with hardware description languages
+Advanced pipelining
+Designing with FPGAs
+HDL simulators and tutorials
+Xilinx CAD tools
New material to support a software Focus
+How compilers Work
+How to optimize compilers
+How to implement object oriented languages
+MIPS simulator and tutorial
+History sections on programming languages, compilers, operating systems and databases
Whats New in the Third Edition
New pedagogical features
Understanding Program Performance
-Analyzes key performance issues from the programmers perspective
Check Yourself Questions
-Helps students assess their understanding of key points of a section
Computers In the Real World
-Illustrates the diversity of applications of computing technology beyond traditional desktop and servers
For More Practice
-Provides students with additional problems they can tackle
In More Depth
-Presents new information and challenging exercises for the advanced student
New reference features
Highlighted glossary terms and definitions appear on the book page, as bold-faced entries in the index, and as a separate and searchable reference on the CD.
A complete index of the material in the book and on the CD appears in the printed index and the CD includes a fully searchable version of the same index.
Historical Perspectives and Further Readings have been updated and expanded to include the history of software R&D.
CD-Library provides materials collected from the web which directly support the text.
On the CD
CD-Bars: Full length sections that are introduced in the book and presented on the CD
CD-Appendixes: The entire set of appendixes
CD-Library: Materials collected from the web which directly support the text
CD-Exercises: For More Practice provides exercises and solutions for self-study
In More Depth presents new information and challenging exercises for the advanced or curious student
Glossary: Terms that are defined in the text are collected in this searchable reference
Further Reading: References are organized by the chapter they support
Software: HDL simulators, MIPS simulators, and FPGA design tools
Tutorials: SPIM, Verilog, and VHDL
Additional Support: Processor Models, Labs, Homeworks, Index covering the book and CD contents
Instructor Support
+ Instructor Support is provided in a password-protected site to adopters who request the password from our sales representative
+ Solutions to all the exercises
+ Figures from the book in a number of formats
+ Lecture slides prepared by the authors and other instructors
+ Lecture notes
For instructor resources click on the grey "companion site" button found on the right side of this page.
This new edition represents a major revision.
New to this edition:
* Entire Text has been updated to reflect new technology
* 70% new exercises.
* Includes a CD loaded with software, projects and exercises to support courses using a number of tools
* A new interior design presents defined terms in the margin for quick reference
* A new feature, Understanding Program Performance focuses on performance from the programmers perspective
* Two sets of exercises and solutions, For More Practice and In More Depth, are included on the CD
* Check Yourself questions help students check their understanding of major concepts
* computers In the Real World feature illustrates the diversity of uses for information technology
*More detail below
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