What do you think?
Rate this book
Introduction to Computing Systems: From Bits & Gates to C & Beyond
Introduction to Computing Systems: From bits & gates to C & beyond , now in its second edition, is designed to give students a better understanding of computing early in their college careers in order to give them a stronger foundation for later courses. The book is in two parts: (a) the underlying structure of a computer, and (b) programming in a high level language and programming methodology. To understand the computer, the authors introduce the LC-3 and provide the LC-3 Simulator to give students hands-on access for testing what they learn. To develop their understanding of programming and programming methodology, they use the C programming language. The book takes a "motivated" bottom-up approach, where the students first get exposed to the big picture and then start at the bottom and build their knowledge bottom-up. Within each smaller unit, the same motivated bottom-up approach is followed. Every step of the way, students learn new things, building on what they already know. The authors feel that this approach encourages deeper understanding and downplays the need for memorizing. Students develop a greater breadth of understanding, since they see how the various parts of the computer fit together.
656 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
34 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 15, 2012
I took the class but only touched on the bare basics 2 years ago. I then reread this book again because I felt like I didn't have a strong understanding of computer systems. I was able to understand everything and it helped me immensely in the upper division classes I'm taking this year. I recommend this book to anyone who is self-teaching themselves because it also comes with solutions to the problems online.
February 20, 2018
The first three chapters of this book are covered in other texts both more succinctly or more with depth so it really doesn’t serve any needs in this text if you've been exposed to those already. I suggest finding a good digital logic book and working through that, skipping those chapters. After this the book comes into its own. Chapter 4, 5 13, 16 and appendix A are required for anyone learning about computer architecture in my opinion. This is a good self study text as it has a lot of breadth but not much depth, except in some things. In the chapters I mentioned the book went into a lot of detail in subjects that many books don’t seem too.
The book attempts to teach computer programming from the hardware up and is quite ambitious. The age of the text does show but the ideas are quite timeless. This is a good companion to patterson and hennessy computer organization text.
The book attempts to teach computer programming from the hardware up and is quite ambitious. The age of the text does show but the ideas are quite timeless. This is a good companion to patterson and hennessy computer organization text.
December 8, 2013
Ever wanted to know how your computer really works? This textbook is really easy to read and does a thorough job of moving from transistors to gates to memory to assembly to the C programming language! The exercise questions are very challenging and will really make you think about how CPUs implement certain commands. This is a very enlightening book and it's probably the few textbooks I've read that I enjoyed reading.
December 5, 2011
This book is not helpful. The first chapter was great, but it went downhill after that. I find it hard to read because it is full of technical language. The LC-3 programs it shows aren't great examples either. There must be something better than this.
September 11, 2024
I have read this title during studying an undergraduate course in computer science. The book is written in a solid academic manner and covers a lot of material. However, a number of concepts could be explained much better - the "Thinking low level, writing high level" series could serve you better if you need to understand how computing systems work under the hood.
March 28, 2025
This isn't stuff i particularly need to know but it added context to my higher-level programming (and some reading about semiconductor design companies). Most textbooks are a bit of a slog but I actually looked forward to opening this one and felt like most pages taught me something new.
March 3, 2023
Definitely not my favorite book. I still do not get the purpose of me having to read this book.
May 3, 2023
The text for my CIT 593 class. Pretty easy to follow and think it does a pretty solid job going from the base components all the way to basic high levels language programming with C.
December 3, 2015
I don't know if it's due to the nature of the subject, but in any case, this book was surprisingly well-structured. What used to be magic to me has now been reduced to bits and pieces that I can actually understand. The LC-3 is fantastic toy and explanatory device; I'm glad they included it. It's is the most enjoyable textbook I've consumed.
Philosophers should read this as a less controversial lesson in reductionism than neuroscience.
Philosophers should read this as a less controversial lesson in reductionism than neuroscience.
Read
July 2, 2017textbook for ECE 120 and 220. Good book on digital logic, assembly language -- LC3 used --- and introduction to C, touching on memory management.
January 24, 2016
Low level analysis of computer architecture.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.