First, architecture basics are detailed with information on the register sets, data types, and memory and instruction formats. Next, instruction set extensions are detailed, which include Intel® ...

We all probably know that for ultimate control and maximum performance, you need assembly language. No matter how good your compiler is, you’ll almost always be able to do better by using your human ...

For most people, you turn on your computer, and it starts the operating system. However, the reality is much more complex as [Thasso] discovered. Even modern x86 chips start in 16-bit real mode and ...

Once we’ve built a computer, the next step is to develop an assembly language and then an assembler that can assemble our programs. In my previous column, we introduced the concept of the big-endian ...

64-bit-capable machines are everywhere. It's time you start thinking about 64-bit support as you develop your Visual Basic applications. There was a time when 64-bit computing was an exotic idea, but ...