Protected Mode Software Architecture

by Tom Shanley

Provides a thorough understanding of the problems that single-task and multi-tasking operating systems must deal with, and then examines each component of both the real and protected mode software... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 020155447X
• ISBN13: 9780201554472
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The top book for system internals

This is a great book for everyone that wants to mess with the dirty x86 processor. Immerse into protected mode, learn the secrets of multitasking and more in this magnificent 334pp item. Lots of assembly code and advanced memory management stuff.

Mindshare series

The mindshare series of books is a great way to get started on something new, and this book is no exception. Tom Shanley is renowned for his clear, concise and to-the-point descriptions. Use this book if you want to get work done. Use intel manuals if you have the time to read through tons of corporate language.This is why I strongly disagree with the reviewers who have given it 1 star claiming it is rephrased intel manuals. This is true for all mindshare books. Would you rather learn PCI using PCI 2.0 spec or by reading through a few chapters of mindshare PCI book? The same argument applies here. If you quickly want to get up and running with protected mode, read this book. Use the manuals for the details if (rarely) needed.

Excellent Material and Reference

I really found this book to be very helpful. Some have stated that you can get this information from Intel and, of course you can. Just like most technical books of this type, you can get the information for free else where. Regardless of this, I would prefer to have this book over the Intel documents. It's easier to find things, I don't have to spend time printing it, and it cuts out on most of the useless garbage.It is very simple and direct. It's an excellent resource for both reference and understanding. Some of also stated in previous reviews that this has 'meandering' discussions on what an OS should be. Most all resources of this nature have some bias in design (as they should). However, this bias does not destroy the quality of the book at all, it complements it.Unless you're writing an Operating System or are curious about how interaction with the Intel microprocessor works (paging, task-switching, etc.), then this book isn't for you. If you are, however, then I would consider this book essential.

Outstanding reference book in Protected Mode .

I found this book very helpful for the followings :- Those who studied real mode for Intel microprocessors and want to move to protected mode . - Those who studied assembly language for DOS and want to move in depth into assembly language for protected mode operating systems like windows .This is the first step . - Those who studied single task OS and want to move to Multi-task OS .To understand this book you will need to know : - The architecture of any of Intel microprocessors starting from 8086 / 8088 . - The basics of assembly language for DOS ( Addressing mode , Segmentation , Interrupts ) Note that the book is comprehensive and full of details but fortunately you can skip the details and study the concepts of each chapter without affecting the ability to understand the next chapters .

highly recommended

I have found the entire architecture series by Addison-Wesley to be extremely useful. This book is no exception. They clearly layout the deisgn and function of the architecture in a way that is easy to understand. The book is a must for all engineers who need to do systems programming with these machines.