这本书最触动人心的地方,是它反复追问一个程序员容易忽略的问题:你写的高层代码,究竟是如何一步步变成硬件上的动作的?全书以MIPS指令集为线索,把「一条指令如何在机器里被执行」讲得细致入微——从操作码、寻址方式到寄存器、总线与中断,层层下探到程序底部。不少读者正是这种「below the program」的视角获得启发:它让人意识到,理解软硬件接口远比拿学分重要。不过它并不友好:细节密集、后半段偏底层,被不少人直呼「像天书」,也有人因更爱《CSAPP》而搁置。它适合愿意啃硬骨头、想打通硬件与软件、把CPU性能与程序性能联系起来的人,而非寻求轻松的入门读物。
"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Alfred North Whitehead, An Introduction to Mathematics, 1911"
"While programmers could ignore the advice and rely on computer architects, compiler writers, and silicon engineers to make their programs run faster without change, that era is over. ... While the goal of many researchers is to make it possible for programmers to be unaware of the underlying paralle"
"Servers also place a greater emphasis on dependability, since a crash is usually more costly than it would be on a single-user desktop computer. ... Despite their low cost, embedded computers often have lower tolerance for failure, since the results can vary from upsetting to devastating."
"How are programs written in a high-level language translated into the language of the hardware, and how does the hardware execute the resulting program?"
"To Linda, who has been, is, and always will be the love of my life"
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Albert Einstein, What I Believe, 1930"