Reverse Engineering for Beginners [pdf]

Post by saagarjha » Tue, Nov 26, 2019, 11:27 PM UTC

sabas123 wrote: post #8

reidacdc wrote: post #3

I more or less compulsively downloaded this, and started skimming it. I'm not an assembly-language programmer, but I thought I at least knew how to read an assembly listing. But right there on page 8, in the MIPS and ARM "functions that return a constant", is an example of "branch delay slots", which (a) I've never heard of, and (b) failure to grok them makes a two line function incomprehensible. Fortunately, I like…

ISA's can get very complex very fast, so I would suggest, like the author wrote down in next sentence, to realize that some complexity is best left for a later time. Now that I think about it, ISA's/assembly are a really good example of how lots of tiny small things combined can become really hard to understand fast.

Post by saagarjha » Tue, Nov 26, 2019, 11:35 PM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #6

For beginners...1054 pages of assembly. Sometimes I think the entire IT sector is on the spectrum.

Post by wolfgke » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 12:50 AM UTC

tropo wrote: post #17

icholy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Found the web developer

Real Men program web sites in assembly, and they like it.

Post by bowmessage » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 1:28 AM UTC

souprock wrote: post #19

FillardMillmore wrote: post #4

Any input from beginners who have dipped their toes into this? Is the content explained fairly intuitively or in a way that is simple to understand? I'm also curious - for those in the know - is the pursuit of knowledge regarding reverse engineering something that has proven valuable in a job or is it primarily an academic pursuit? If it has proven valuable, how so?

I'm one "in the know", so I'll answer that part. Heck yeah it is valuable. My area has numerous employers that are eager to hire people with that skill set. It pays more than the typical software development jobs. Most of the jobs seem to be related to how things get hacked into. One can play defense or offense. I post about my employer in the "Who is hiring?" sometimes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21422735

Post by voltagex_ » Wed, Nov 27, 2019, 2:25 AM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #6

For beginners...1054 pages of assembly. Sometimes I think the entire IT sector is on the spectrum.