Reading List for Computer Architecture (seed)

http://semipublic.comp-arch.net/wiki/Reading_List_for_Computer_Architecture

TBD:

I am often asked for a reading list for computer architecture.

Unfortunately, there aren't many good books in computer architecture.

= [[Hennessy and Patterson]] =

[[Hennessy and Patterson]] is the current must-read, since its first publication
but that is not really a comprehensive book or survey of the field,
as a text book suitable for classes, espousing a quantitative design philisophy.

In fact, one of the reasons I am trying to create the comp.arch wiki is as an antidote to Hennessy and Patterson.
I want to collect a survey or grab bag of many techniques not mentioned in [[H&P]],
or potentially deprecated by them.
Many students raised on H&P, particularly the early versions, developed a common attituide
- they were [[RISC bigot]], and deprecated any advanced microarchitecture such as [[OOO]],
since they felt sure that the [[simple 5-stage pipeline]] was the be-all and end-all.
It is not fair to ascribe these viewpoints to Professors Hennessy and Patterson
- their views are much more nuanced
- but nevertheless this viewpoint was common.

= Random Grab-bag =

This list was assembled from a recent email to an undergraduate (2011).
TBD: collect past recommended reading lists.

Hennessy and Patterson is required reading. However, I don't much like any of the textbooks - which is why I am working on my wiki, sort of as an antidote.

You pretty much have to read the conferences and journals:
* [[ISCA]]
* [[ASPLOS]]
* [[Micro]]
* [[HPCA]]
* [[Hotchips]]
* [[ISSCC]] - usually lower level than computer architecture, but oftentimes the only information you can get about industry chips

I suggest reading every issue of [[Microprocessor Report]] you can, although I warn you that there was a period when MPR was owned by EE Times when it was not very good. Back in the 80s and 90s, MPR was the bible, by installments; and since The Linley Group bought it back it has become much better than it was when EE Times owned it.

* the old [[Microprocessor Forum]] conference

As for reading the conferenves and journals, a good place to start would be the "Best of" issues:

* 25 Years of ISCA, Selected Papers, ed Guri Sohi

* 20 years of ACM SIGPLAN conferencvve on PLDA, 1979 - 1999, ed McKinley.

Other books on my shelf:

* Mead Conway VLSI - old, but classic. Read it.

* Laura Prince, Semiconductor Memories -old; I wish there was a better book on DRAM. Probably better to read papers.

* Bell and Newell,
* Bell Sieworik and Newell,
:: Computer Structures
::- this was the classsic when I was in school. Very old now.

* Mike Flynn, Computer Architecture
* Blauuw and Brooks, Computer Architecture

* Pfister - In search of clusters.

Many many instruction set manuals

esp.
* the IBM 360 Principles of Operation

* Hacker's Delight

* Inside the AS/400

Organick's books on computer hardware
* TBD: list

* The Soul of a New Machine



Use a library and used book store. I bought, and still buy, a lot of 2nd hand books.


* read manuals on http://bitsavers.org

= Best of Lists and Collections =

* papers that won the ACM SIGARCH and IEEE-CS TCCA ISCA Influential Paper Award, http://www.sigarch.org/influential_paper.html

= Bibliography Surfing =

Many students, especially graduate students assemble personal bibliographies and reference lists of papers they encountered in their research.
The bravest students may annotate the references, with discussions of value.
Many such lists can be found on the web.
Use them shamelessly for inspiration - but beware that your opinions may not agree with the bibliographers./

Unfortunately, more experienced professionals, professors, etc.
have usually learned to only provide positive recommendations,
and to never make public anti-recommendations
about authors who may eventually be recommending funding for the reviewer.

Still more experienced professionals may recommend papers that they dislike,
because not mentioning them would be an obvious dis.