Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022) • Hacker News Board

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#31

Post by Bilal_io » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 12:24 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #19

zahllos wrote: post #10

Better option: Computer Organization and Design by Patterson and Hennessy, ISBN 978-0124077263. Comes in MIPS (original version now in its 5th edition), ARM and RISC-V focused flavors, covers "instructions unique to architecture X" as part of its discussion.

Waiting for the GPU covering version. (I do have an older version of the book though).

The description of the ARM edition says Nvidia GPU is used throughout the book for comparison

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#32

Post by andomizeazzz662 » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 12:42 PM UTC

zahllos wrote: post #10

Better option: Computer Organization and Design by Patterson and Hennessy, ISBN 978-0124077263. Comes in MIPS (original version now in its 5th edition), ARM and RISC-V focused flavors, covers "instructions unique to architecture X" as part of its discussion.

[dead]

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#33

Post by iwsk » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 12:50 PM UTC

zahllos wrote: post #10

Better option: Computer Organization and Design by Patterson and Hennessy, ISBN 978-0124077263. Comes in MIPS (original version now in its 5th edition), ARM and RISC-V focused flavors, covers "instructions unique to architecture X" as part of its discussion.

Overall I enjoyed this book. However their opening paragraph to floating point numbers is offensive.

"programming languages support numbers with fractions, which are called reals in mathematics. Here are some examples of reals:

3.14159265... (pi)

2.71828... (e)"

>fractions are called reals in mathematics

>immediately gives pi and e as an example

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#34

Post by _gabe_ » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 12:56 PM UTC

iwsk wrote: post #33

zahllos wrote: post #10

Better option: Computer Organization and Design by Patterson and Hennessy, ISBN 978-0124077263. Comes in MIPS (original version now in its 5th edition), ARM and RISC-V focused flavors, covers "instructions unique to architecture X" as part of its discussion.

Overall I enjoyed this book. However their opening paragraph to floating point numbers is offensive. "programming languages support numbers with fractions, which are called reals in mathematics. Here are some examples of reals: 3.14159265... (pi) 2.71828... (e)" >fractions are called reals in mathematics >immediately gives pi and e as an example

Isn’t this technically true though? Fractions are just rational reals. The examples listed are still reals, just irrational.

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#35

Post by vcxy » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 1:04 PM UTC

_gabe_ wrote: post #34

iwsk wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overall I enjoyed this book. However their opening paragraph to floating point numbers is offensive. "programming languages support numbers with fractions, which are called reals in mathematics. Here are some examples of reals: 3.14159265... (pi) 2.71828... (e)" >fractions are called reals in mathematics >immediately gives pi and e as an example

Isn’t this technically true though? Fractions are just rational reals. The examples listed are still reals, just irrational.

It's bad pedagogy. But it is also technically incorrect. You can have fractions with complex numbers.

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#36

Post by gcr » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 1:05 PM UTC

_gabe_ wrote: post #34

iwsk wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overall I enjoyed this book. However their opening paragraph to floating point numbers is offensive. "programming languages support numbers with fractions, which are called reals in mathematics. Here are some examples of reals: 3.14159265... (pi) 2.71828... (e)" >fractions are called reals in mathematics >immediately gives pi and e as an example

Isn’t this technically true though? Fractions are just rational reals. The examples listed are still reals, just irrational.

i think i can see the nitpick here: pi and e aren't representable as rational numbers, and aren't representable exactly in IEEE754

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#37

Post by avg_dev » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 1:11 PM UTC

zahllos wrote: post #10

Better option: Computer Organization and Design by Patterson and Hennessy, ISBN 978-0124077263. Comes in MIPS (original version now in its 5th edition), ARM and RISC-V focused flavors, covers "instructions unique to architecture X" as part of its discussion.

I managed to get my hands on a really old version of this book (maybe 20 yrs old - no ARM I don't think). Do you think that is still good? Or should I just get the new one?

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#38

Post by CapitalistCartr » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 1:12 PM UTC

Because I can't keep up with all of tech, I usually get books from publishers I trust. First on that list is O'Reilly's. These guys are not on the list. Also if I buy through Amazon, I buy used. Cuts down on a lot of crap.

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#39

Post by tildedave » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 1:14 PM UTC

zahllos wrote: post #10

Better option: Computer Organization and Design by Patterson and Hennessy, ISBN 978-0124077263. Comes in MIPS (original version now in its 5th edition), ARM and RISC-V focused flavors, covers "instructions unique to architecture X" as part of its discussion.

This book is the reason I was able to pass my computer architecture exams in grad school. Just lugged the 800 page monstrosity around an entire semester and read it every chance I could. A really wonderful book ... I should get a recent copy and re-read it again.

Re: Modern Computer Architecture and Organization - Second Edition (2022)

#40

Post by vcxy » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 1:19 PM UTC

gcr wrote: post #36

_gabe_ wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t this technically true though? Fractions are just rational reals. The examples listed are still reals, just irrational.

i think i can see the nitpick here: pi and e aren't representable as rational numbers, and aren't representable exactly in IEEE754

I wouldn't say it's a nitpick. Rationals are fractions of integers, not just any fractions at all. Rationals are _examples_ of reals, but it's bad pedagogy to say "fractions, which are called reals" because it sounds like the authors are giving a definition of reals. While they technically did not say this was a definition, it is sloppy.