Essentials of Computer Architecture

This easy to read textbook provides an introduction to computer architecture, while focusing on the essential aspects of hardware that programmers need to know. The topics are explained from a programmer’s point of view, and the text emphasizes consequences for programmers. Divided in five parts, the book covers the basics of digital logic, gates, and data paths, as well as the three primary aspects of architecture: processors, memories, and I/O systems. The book also covers advanced topics of parallelism, pipelining, power and energy, and performance. A hands-on lab is also included. The second edition contains three new chapters as well as changes and updates throughout.

Douglas Comer is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University. He is an internationally recognized expert on computer networking and the TCP/IP protocols. He has been working with TCP/IP and the Internet since the late 1970s. Comer established his reputation as a principal investigator on several early Internet research projects. He served as chairman of the CSNET technical committee, chairman of the DARPA Distributed Systems Architecture Board, and was a member of the Internet Activities Board (the group of researchers who built the Internet).

Comer has created courses on computer networks, the Internet, TCP/IP protocols, and operating systems for a variety of audiences, including in-depth courses for engineers and less technical courses for others; he continues to teach at various industries and networking conferences around the world. In addition, Comer consults for private industry on the design of networks and networking equipment. Professor Comer is well-known for his series of ground breaking textbooks on computer networks, the Internet, computer operating systems, and computer architecture. His books have been translated into sixteen languages, and are widely used in both industry and academia. His three-volume series Internetworking With TCP/IP is often cited as an authoritative reference for the Internet protocols. More significantly, Comer's texts have been used by fifteen of the top sixteen Computer Science Departments listed in the U.S. News and World Report ranking.