I have (had? Looking at my bookshelf I can't find, maybe I tossed it?) a hardcopy of this book. The information in it is well written, however... The use of "HLA" (High Level Assembly) is a real turn off, at least for me. Really wish this book was targeting standard vendor compilers instead.
Yes, it was for me, too. I should have read the sample version first, and I asked for a refund then.
Yes, the book is well written and up to No Starch Press's standards, but I don't think it deserved the blanket title "The Art of Assembly."
This sort of manual has since been gamified by Zachtronics, and I think it is genuinely a better alternative. If you are trying to pick up the basics of programming assembly and are already committed to use a "fake" language, why not enjoy the experience as a video game?
And it does not help that this page starts with a dick joke.
Because Zachtronics games are constrained in ways that real ISAs aren't for the sake of good puzzle gameplay. It's about as meaningful as trying to learn to be an infantryman by playing Doom.
..That's a dick joke?
I assumed it was as it's now available in hardcopy.
That’s the straightforward reading. If that’s what they intended, without the innuendo, then they’d say that.