Morshed I’ve hand-picked you the top 5 books that will help you learn assembly even if you have never coded in assembly language before. This article will look at some of the best assembly language books available today.
So what even is Assembly language? It is a low-level programming language that allows you to control a computer’s hardware directly. Learning assembly language can also benefit you if you’re interested in developing embedded systems, allowing you greater control over their code.
Assembly language is used in many applications, including operating systems, device drivers, embedded systems, and game development. With all these advantages, it is clear that learning assembly language can open up many opportunities for aspiring programmers and developers.
Assembly x64 Programming In Easy Steps
The Best Illustrated Book
Author: Mike McGrath
Number of Pages: 186
Time to Read: 12 hours
Published: September 8, 2021
Style of Writing: Practical
Ideal for: Beginners
Why do we like this book?
The book has colorful illustrations, readable, and easy to follow, making it perfect for those starting with assembly language. You will also be completing exercises even if you haven’t done any programming before.
Is it Easy to Read?
Is the Book Comprehensive?
Is the Book Relevant?
What will you learn from this book?
You will learn the fundamentals of assembly language and how it works. In addition, the book will cover the basics of memory addressing, arithmetic operations, flow control, and more. You will discover ways to perform basic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The book also take you through the step-by-step process of setting up your machine for developing in assembly.
- Understanding Fundamentals
- Setting Up Your Machine
- Performing Arithmetic Operations
- Directing Flow
- Address Options
- Building Blocks
- Expanding Macros
- Floating Points
- Calling Windows
Why this book may not be right fit for you?
Even though it’s a great beginner book, it’s for Windows users only. You’ll be using Microsoft’s Macro Assembler software to follow the exercises. The book also doesn’t cover the inner workings of assembly language in-depth. If you are not a big fan of using Windows and need more comprehensive guide, then I recommend reading Learn to Program with Assembly.
The book is applicable for Windows user only.
Assembly Language Step-by-Step
Learn Assembly Language In Linux
Author: Jeff Duntemann
Number of Pages: 656
Time to Read: 44 hours
Published: October 5, 2009
Style of Writing: Hybrid
Ideal for: Beginners
Why do we like this book?
The author wrote this book with the notion that assembly language is the first programming language you’ve ever used. The book also covers the basic concepts in computing, such as hexadecimal and binary number bases. The book also covers the assembly language concepts comprehensively.
Is it Easy to Read?
Is the Book Comprehensive?
Is the Book Relevant?
What will you learn from this book?
You will learn the assembly language basics, such as binary and hexadecimal number systems, Intel x86 computer architecture, and building computer programs under the Linux operating system.
You will also get exposed to x86 instruction set, memory addressing, macros, and using C-language libraries. You will learn assembly language using free and open-source software.
- x86 Architecture And Assembly concepts
- x86 Instruction Set
- Intel x86 Computer Architecture
- Memory Addressing
- Procedures
- Macros
- C-language Code Libraries
Why this book may not be right fit for you?
The book is also published nine years old so the tools are not up-to-date to follow through the exercises. If you are a complete beginner, I recommend either Learn to Program with Assembly or Assembly x64 Programming in Easy Steps.
What are other people saying?
This book has great reviews in Amazon and Reddit.
Learn to Program With Assembly
Best Book for First-Time Programmers
Author: Jonathan Bartlett
Number of Pages: 348
Time to Read: 24 hours
Published: November 6, 2021
Style of Writing: Hybrid
Ideal for: All levels
Why do we like this book?
The book is a successor of the author’s previous book, Programming from the Ground Up, which was a reputable book on assembly language for 15 years. The book teaches 64-bit x86 assembly language in the Linux operating system. The book covers and explains the basic comprehensively for a complete beginner. The readers of Windows and Mac operating system can follow through the exercises using provided Docker image.
Is it Easy to Read?
Is the Book Comprehensive?
Is the Book Relevant?
What will you learn from this book?
The book’s first part teaches basic instructions for the processor to write programs. You will also learn the operating system interactions, such as making calls to the kernel and working with the memory. Finally, the book discusses features of high-level programming languages, such as exception handling, object-oriented programming, and garbage collections.
- Assembly language basics
- Registers and simple arithmetic
- Comparison, branching, and looping
- Working with data in memory
- Signed number and bitwise operations
- Operating system basics
- Making system calls
- Calling functions from libraries
- Common and helpful assembly directives
- Dynamic memory allocation
- Basic high-level language features
- Object-oriented programming
Why this book may not be right fit for you?
If you are a first-time programmer, you will learn assembly language at a slower paced because the author focuses on building your fundamental knowledge first. The book has less illustrations than Assembly x64 Programming In Easy Steps. The book still covers the basic in details and is the most up-to-date book on learn assembly language for any skill-level.
Programming with 64-Bit ARM Assembly Language
The Best Book to Learn Assembly In Mobile
Author: Stephen Smith
Number of Pages: 403
Time to Read: 26 hours
Published: May 1, 2020
Style of Writing: Theory
Ideal for: Advanced Learners
Why do we like this book?
The book will teach you how to write assembly programming in an ARM processor in 64-bit mode. In addition, you’ll learn how to write programs for mobile devices such as Android and iPhone. You will also find it beneficial to get up-to-date instructions and detail explanations of assembly language.
Is it Easy to Read?
Is the Book Comprehensive?
Is the Book Relevant?
What will you learn from this book?
You will learn how to write computer programs for single-board computers. In addition, you will learn the fundamentals of ARM architecture and hack machine code. The book provides plenty of exercises to practice your skills.
- Introduction to 64-bit ARM
- Setting Up Your Machine
- Controlling program flow
- Defining memory contents
- Functions and stack
- Linux operating system services
- Programming GPIO pins
- Interacting with C and Python
- Interfacing with Kotlin and Swift
- Multiple, divide, and, accumulate
- Floating point operations
- Neon coprocessor
- Optimizing code
- Reading and understanding code
- Hacking code
Why this book may not be right fit for you?
If you are a beginner to programming, many concepts will take more effort to grasp because of technical jargons and inadequate beginner friendly instructions. I recommend an easier/illustrated one like Learn to Program with Assembly if you do not have any programming experience.
What are other people saying?
This book has great reviews in Amazon and Reddit.
Raspberry Pi Operating System Assembly Language
Learning Assembly On Raspberry Pi
Author: Bruce Smith
Number of Pages: 328
Time to Read: 22 hours
Published: March 18, 2021
Style of Writing: Hybrid
Ideal for: Advanced learners
Why do we like this book?
The book only requires a few tools to get started. All you need is Raspberry Pi Operating System installed on your Raspberry Pi. The book is up-to-date with lots of practice exercises. The book also explains the concepts in-depth.
Is it Easy to Read?
Is the Book Comprehensive?
Is the Book Relevant?
What will you learn from this book?
The book teaches you to be proficient in the assembly language program. The book includes 28 programs to practice machine code. You will learn to program ARM machine code on your Raspberry Pi.
- Practical approach with example programs
- GCC assembler and linker
- ARM registers and arrangements
- Use of operating system calls
- Debugging with GDB
- Using libc function calls
- Programming the GPIO
- Floating point and Neon co-processors
Why this book may not be right fit for you?
If you have never coded before, this book might be overwhelming for you to start due to technical jargons. I recommend starting with Assembly x64 Programming In Easy Steps and Learn to Program with Assembly before reading this book.
