Implementing a One Address CPU in Logisim

Reviewed by Phillip Sharp, Instructor, Colorado State University on 12/19/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Given the title of the book limits the coverage of the book to implementing a one address CPU, I think the book does a good job of covering the basics required to understand the components necessary to build this type of CPU as well as the reasoning behind the design choices made. The book also goes into some detail about other possible architectures and provides good insight on assembly language, and the assembly process.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

I think the book portrays the material accurately, however there were several grammatical and spelling errors that stood out from the generally excellent material.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The ideas presented in this book are fundamental to understanding the basics of modern processors and could be found in a textbook forty years ago and without a dramatic shift in computing technology will probably be valid for the foreseeable future.

Clarity rating: 4

I think this book is written in a way that is very easy to understand and presents concepts in a way that I think is very accessible to students see the material for the first time. The only problem I encountered was the occasional grammatical or spelling error that detracted from the flow of information and caused some temporary confusion.

Consistency rating: 5

I did not have any issues with the consistency of the material

Modularity rating: 5

The modularity of the book was on par with a commercial textbook, in my opinion.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I thought the organization was logical and concepts were presented in a order that allows later topics to build on concepts introduced earlier in the book.

Interface rating: 4

The interface with the book was through a PDF and worked normally. Ideally this book would be built as a website with separate pages devoted to the different chapters and material that is currently included as a zip file, accessible based on the chapter it goes with. Obviously this would take time and money and is not strictly necessary

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

I found several grammatical and spelling errors in the text. This is unfortunate because these errors really detract from an otherwise good text and could be fixed with less that a week of the authors or a graduate students time.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The content of this book is not culturally insensitive or offensive.

Comments

I really liked this book and am considering using at least part of it in a future class. Also the other two books by this author, Introduction To MIPS Assembly Language Programming, and Digital Circuit Projects: An Overview of Digital Circuits Through Implementing Integrated Circuits - Second Edition, are also valuable, with with caveat of a few grammatical and spelling errors.