If one had to suggest a basic, well-known, comprehensive introductory reference on computer architecture, it would be reasonable to assume that one would suggest one of the following:
- Patterson & Hennessy - Computer Organization and Design
- Tanenbaum & Austin - Structured Computer Organization
- Stallings - Computer organization and architecture designing for performance
- Hamacher, Vranesic, Zaky & Manjikian - Computer Organization and Embedded Systems
These books are all about 1000 pages long.
What you would suggest to someone who wants to get a high-level, initial grasp of the subject without having the time to go over a 1000 page volume? In other words, I am asking who the little brothers of the books above might be.
You can assume the reader to be as mathematically sophisticated as you want but he or she has no idea of computer architecture at all. And again, as said, he or she can embark on a 200/300 page adventure, 400 tops, but no more than that (I know it could be deceptive to measure books in pages since it is easier to read 100 easy pages than one single hard one, but you get the point). Needless to say the potential reader does not expect to get a knowledge comparable to that of someone who read one of the books I mentioned in the beginning.
