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How relevant would the book by Kip Irvine Assembly Language for x86 Processors be for the Linux operating system? In other words, the fact this is a book on x86 is there really much difference than learning x86 on Linux? Surely the operating system is just a layer of abstraction above the ASM anyway?

I am wondering whether to get this book but I am more interested in Linux-focussed programming.

rkhb
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user997112
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  • possible duplicate of [What is the best way to learn x86 assembly on a Linux platform?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/721583/what-is-the-best-way-to-learn-x86-assembly-on-a-linux-platform) – Carl Norum Jun 23 '13 at 18:28
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    Read also, and perhaps even first, the [Linux Assembly HowTo](http://asm.sourceforge.net/howto/Assembly-HOWTO.html) – Basile Starynkevitch Jun 23 '13 at 18:50
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    Are you wanting to learn assembly or linux programming? If linux then dont mess with assembly, as part of that education. Asm is good to know, but a different learning experience, focus on linux programming in C and then perhaps other languages. – old_timer Jun 23 '13 at 19:57

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  1. From what I glean in the reviews on Amazon, that's a pretty windows-focused book.

  2. Regarding your question "Surely the operating system is just a layer of abstraction above the ASM anyway?" - that's not really how it works. Assembly language programming is just like programming in any other language - you will have to work with the interfaces the operating system gives you if you want to do anything useful. Windows system calls and linux system calls work differently, and perhaps worse for the beginner, in the 64-bit world each has a different ABI. Stick with a reference that matches the system you're trying to program on, at least while you're a beginner, or you'll regret it.

Carl Norum
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  • The latest edition of Jeff Duntemann's "Assembly Language Step by Step" focuses on Linux, and might be a better bet - http://www.duntemann.com I think there's a version of Kip Irvine's stuff called "about32" for Linux, also... – Frank Kotler Jun 23 '13 at 18:45
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    Judging from what I'm seeing in the [chapter objectives](http://kipirvine.com/asm/files/chapterObjectives.htm), the Kip Irvine book isn't even Windows-focused -- the last few chapters are all about MS-DOS! This book is **ancient**. –  Jun 23 '13 at 19:28