The Punctilious Programmer IBM Mainframe Assembler Available Now: The Big Blue Assembler Book

Available Now: The Big Blue Assembler Book

My new assembler book is available in paperback now on Amazon. A hardback version will appear shortly. This is an introductory text. After chapters covering the z Series architecture, the book is organized into topics that are covered in an order that I worked out over 40 years of teaching assembler to students and professional programmers.

Here are some of the chapter topics:

  • Character Data
  • Zoned Decimal and Packed Decimal
  • Binary Data
  • DSECTs
  • Locate and Move Mode I/O
  • Subprograms
  • Bit processing
  • Exotic Instructions

Book Features:

  • Each of the 12 Chapters begins with a newly written introduction to a topic followed by a list of the instructions that are required to master it. Each chapter ends with detailed discussions of each instruction and one or more programming assignments.
  • The book has 5 Appendices
  • I’ve added 18 programming assignments designed to turn you into an assembler programmer. Each programming assignment is limited in scope but targets the fundamental skills you need to become an accomplished assembler programmer.
  • The book has 393 Pages.

I’ve always given away my teaching materials on this site. I’ll continue to do that because it makes me happy to know that someone out there finds the information helpful. Much of the information in the book is available on the website, including the preliminary chapters of the book. What’s available in the book that you might not find on the site is an organization of topics that makes the material accessible, some newly written introductions to various topics, and a collection of programming assignments that lead to programming mastery. You will also have a book you can hold.

I love books. I still have a copy of Programming Assembler Language by Peter Abel – the book I sweated my way through (on my own) some 40 years ago when I was trying to learn assembly language. I hope you will buy this new book and enjoy using it.

11 thoughts on “Available Now: The Big Blue Assembler Book”

  1. Old programmer but new to HLASM. I’ve appreciated your online material and with gratitude just purchased book.

  2. I was an IBM mainframe assembler guru over 50 years ago. What do you think of this book as a refresher? (I am thinking of this as more of a hobby than anything else.) Also, you mention programming assignments. Is there a way to run these assignments, affordably, for those of us who don’t have access to mainframes anymore?

    1. Hi Robert, I think the book will work perfectly as an introduction to assembler programming. The first chapter had some suggestions for getting mainframe access which is easier now, thanks to IBM. Google IBM z Explore for possibilities. What a great hobby!

  3. Hi David,

    This is showing as not available on Amazon India. Please let me know by when it will be made available.

    Thanks

      1. Evidently, Amazon only sell ebooks in India, but there are two options you can try:

        1) Go to Amazon’s international site: https://www.amazon.com/International-Shipping-Direct/b?node=230659011
        The book is available there and I think they ship to India.

        2) Use a shopper here that ships to India. One such shopper is https://borderoo.com/myus/
        You can buy the book here and have it shipped.

        I’m not sure which is cheaper. Let me know if either of these work for you.

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