I’ve owned this book since it was new in the year 2000, but it has sat on the shelf alone and unloved for at least 20 years. I think I did probably read it back then, but it pre-dates blogged notes about books like this one. However, with my new found interest in assembly language programming for ancient CPU architectures, this seems like the sort of book which I might enjoy again.
That said, let’s be honest here — the content is interesting, and this book is still recommended as the best introduction to this topic, which is impressive after a 25 year lifespan — but Shakespeare this ain’t. So I found the book interesting and enjoyed reading it, but wont say much more than that here.
I am left with an urge to understand UEFI more. Maybe I should write a bad boot loader? Either way, I’ve had to add some books on that to the Amazon wishlist now…
Computers
Morgan Kaufmann
2000
278
Whatever your programming language, whatever your platform, you probably tap into linker and loader functions all the time. But do you know how to use them to their greatest possible advantage? Only now, with the publication of Linkers & Loaders, is there an authoritative book devoted entirely to these deep-seated compile-time and run-time processes. The book begins with a detailed and comparative account of linking and loading that illustrates the differences among various compilers and operating systems. On top of this foundation, the author presents clear practical advice to help you create faster, cleaner code. You'll learn to avoid the pitfalls associated with Windows DLLs, take advantage of the space-saving, performance-improving techniques supported by many modern linkers, make the best use of the UNIX ELF library scheme, and much more. If you're serious about programming, you'll devour this unique guide to one of the field's least understood topics.