Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture

by Jon Stokes

This is a softcover version of the original hardcover edition released December 28, 2006 (ISBN 9781593271046).

Computers perform countless tasks ranging from the business critical to the recreational, but regardless of how differently they may look and behave, they're all amazingly similar in basic function. Once you understand how the microprocessor-or central processing unit (CPU)-works, you'll have a firm grasp of the fundamental concepts at the heart of all modern computing.

Inside the Machine, from the co-founder of the highly respected Ars Technica website, explains how microprocessors operate-what they do and how they do it. Now in softcover, the book uses analogies, full-color diagrams, and clear language to convey the ideas that form the basis of modern computing. After discussing computers in the abstract, the book examines specific microprocessors from Intel, IBM, and Motorola, from the original models up through today's leading processors. It contains the most comprehensive and up-to-date information available (online or in print) on Intel's latest processors: the Pentium M, Core, and Core 2 Duo. Inside the Machine also explains technology terms and concepts that readers often hear but may not fully understand, such as "pipelining," "L1 cache," "main memory," "superscalar processing," and "out-of-order execution."

Includes discussion of:




Parts of the computer and microprocessor
Programming fundamentals (arithmetic instructions, memory accesses, control flow instructions, and data types)
Intermediate and advanced microprocessor concepts (branch prediction and speculative execution)
Intermediate and advanced microprocessor concepts (branch prediction and speculative execution)
Intermediate and advanced computing concepts (instruction set architectures, RISC and CISC, the memory hierarchy, and encoding and decoding machine language instructions)
64-bit computing vs. 32-bit computing
Caching and performance
Inside the Machine is perfect for students of science and engineering, IT and business professionals, and the growing community of hardware tinkerers who like to dig into the guts of their machines.

Genres: Programming, Computer Science, Technology, Computers, Nonfiction, Technical, Coding

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2006

Reviews

[Moshe Zioni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just, WOW- didn't expect it to be that good, honestly one of the best reference books I've ever read (and I've read quite a few), Stokes have a tremendous amount of knowledge and he achieved, IMHO, an unprecedented writing on one of the most obscure and hard-to-teach topics of computer hardware - the CPU.

[Nick Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

No deep detail, but a clear and concise presentation, with a very nice set of examples from several current processors -- a suitable, if less detailed, update to Tannenbaum's classic Structured Computer Organization.

[Justin Liew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good introductory Computer Architecture book. It is accessible and well laid out, and builds on foundations as it goes.

The only downside I would say is that the sections on the different architectures dragged a bit; I got a bit disinterested in the specific differences between the various different Motorola chipsets. That being said, it is important to see the evolution of the CPU and how the different manufacturers approached performance gains and how they handled the ever-increasing processor-memory gap.

[Sergey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome high-level intro to CPU microarchitectures. Stokes explains the fundamentals like pipelining, the instruction lifecycle and caches very clearly. The text is intuitive and is easy to go through. Illustrations are the best I’ve seen in any technical book.

Inside the Machine is unfortunately rather outdated, having been printed in 2007. For this reason, I skipped many of the details on specific processors. Still, the overarching fundamentals hold up well!

[walid · Rating 4 out of 5]

dostoievski? nn🙅‍♂️
sci-fi? HELL NAWWW😤❌❌
murakami?nn😴
Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture?OUI✅👍

[drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary notes here

The first 4 chapters act like a very quick overview of a freshman Computer Organisation course and the subsequent chapters dive more into the evolution of specific processor architectures.

I am sceptical of its practical usefulness but it was a fun and interesting read nonetheless. 4/5

[Daniel Aarno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informal and quite simplistic; still a good background summary of the major two desktop architectures of the last decade that does not require a lot of knowledge on the subject to grasp.

[Rick Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I went through this Book.

I had to pause many times, focus on imagining.

Fun imagination, no particular order

Connecting each layer of Abstraction, I tried to imagine to the most foundational level.

1. I imagined, 0101010, being manipulated with operations of many types

2. These 01010101 are being created by DC current

3. I imagined, 01010101 represented as data of various types

4. I imagined, different types of architecture alongside with CPU

5. CPU is where, all the (1) is being tasked yet

6. Find limtations of architectures, either improve by making things smaller or organizing it efficiently

7. Load up a small program into this [again], to create dividing resources of CPU

Yawns!

Now, I am tired, I'll get back to this again.

Deus Vult,
Gottfried

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally understand these processor terms I've heard so often ("pipelines", "branch-prediction", etc.) The subject matter is pretty dry and I think it's also pretty hard to describe. We're talking about the functioning of a machine that uses microscopic parts to perform actions that are completely invisible to the eye, at speeds that are difficult to even conceptualize. I won't lie to you: I found this a bit of a chore to get through, but Stokes does a good job applying various analogies to make it clear how and WHY certain choices are made and how those choices affect speed, efficiency, programmer comfort, and power usage. Don't let the date put you off, the things that are true in this book are still true. Sure, I'd love it if there was an additional chapter on the the innovations between 2006 and today (2023), but there isn't. I'm happy to have learned what I learned.

[Trevor Braico · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was just about all that a novice in the world of computer architecture could hope to encounter as a first introduction. The author does an excellent job of making sure that everything is very well explained before expanding upon it, complete with visual representations for anything that could reasonably thought to be too complex for a textual description. My only critique is that in the chapters where Stokes explains the design and implementation of the different Pentium and PowerPC lines of processors, he goes into too much detail about the very specifics of each. It can get to be a lot of information to try and refer back to by the time he is done explaining the back ends between the two lines.

[Che Adam Rashid · Rating 4 out of 5]

An astonishingly informative romp through recent microprocessor history (1990's - 2006). The author goes through the basics of microprocessors and subsequently builds upon that knowledge base by exploring eras of microprocessor history and improvements. Although slightly repetitive at times (mostly due to the subject), he explores and easily explains microarchitecture design and implementation and contrasts CISC vs. RISC instruction sets (with an obvious penchant for one of them).

Surprisingly easy to understand, and definitely satiated my appetite for technical knowledge on how the beating heart of computers functions, without going into too much detail.

[Carl Daddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got what I wanted out of this book. It's a high level look at how microprocessors work. First part covers the basics of microprocessors, while the second part covers how specific processors where designed from the 90s and early 2000s. I skimmed through the second half of the book, as I felt it wasn't necessary to learn every detail of every design decision. However, it gave me a high level refresher course into computer architecture and some historical context on how processors came to be today.

[Denis Nuțiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books is a nice read for someone who wishes to know more about how computer processors works. It's a shallow introduction to computer architecture and organization.

Similar books:

Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface

[You Ssef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant introduction to the subject.

[Raphael]

https://dev.to/taillogs/the-best-book...

[SolidM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Excellent introduction to the basics of microprocessor. Every programmer needs to read it

[Ananya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good insight to how a computer works - split up very well as a plus:)

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was still relevant in 2024 and answered a lot of my residual questions following my "Introduction to Computer Architecture and Organization" class

[Mattia Andreoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed but accessible introduction to computer architecture and microprocessors.

[El Trachh · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب رائع يكشف لنا داخل الحاسوب وخصوصا تفاصيل عمل المعالج والذاكرة انصح به المبتدئين في علوم الحاسب

[Ushan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a wonderful book from 1990 called Microprocessors: A Programmer's View that explains clearly, how microprocessors work. It stops at the Intel 80486, the IBM POWER1, and the Motorola 68040. Jon Stokes's book covers the next 16 years of microprocessor evolution, stopping at the Core Duo and the PowerPC G5. There is no way I would have understood this book without the 1990 book. The x86/x86-64 instruction set is basically a virtual machine; what goes on inside is completely different, and the translation from the instruction set to micro-ops is complicated: micro-ops sometimes fuse, and fused micro-ops sometimes later break apart. Above it nowadays oftentimes is another virtual machine, a JVM, a .NET CLR or a Parrot. I wonder how much faster things would have been with just one virtual machine.

[Chris Reesman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about computer micro-architecture. Interesting to see the changes from one microprocessor to the next from various vendors. The illustrations and clear explanations helped to enforce the concepts presented in the text. I would recommend to anyone looking for a good introduction or refresher on micro architecture.