Chapter 22: Epilogue

Overview

If you actually read this entire book and haven't skipped around here and there, you should have found a diverse spectrum of topics related to computer processing using all the flavors of the x86 instruction set, from general-purpose instructions up through SSE3, AMD64, and EM64T, such as the terrible penalty (and hidden problems) of not having your data properly aligned, how to detect problems early in your development cycle, and the importance of using assertions and constant declarations within your code. Okay, I did not go overboard on the concept of const but you can find that in any good C++ programming book.

Also contained within were answers to some of the most often asked questions that are typically encountered in a job interview and my insight into that and other topics of game or embedded development. The companion files, available at www.wordware.com/files/8086 and www.leiterman.com/books.html, contain practical problems and solutions despite the fact that they are not heavily optimized and algorithmically tuned .

The principles found throughout this book can be applied to your project to make it that much better. There have been programming tricks as well as other foundational elements for you to use to build upon and enhance your knowledge. I hope you have found this book to be informative, that it has taught you at least one new item, and has been a value for your dollars. Please feel free to contact me and let me know your opinion about what you would like to see in any future revision.

I am sorry the code included with this book is not heavily optimized but as mentioned at the beginning, "optimized code is difficult to understand!" An unmentioned reason for not doing so is greed! There is gold in them thar hills! Companies make money writing heavily optimizedthus very, very fastalgorithms. You too can possibly make lots of money from the comfort of your home writing optimized libraries targeted for a specific processor. In fact, consider any algorithms you find in this book that you need in your code a homework assignment of optimization.

I hope this book was as pleasant for you to read as it was fun for me to research and write. In the process of writing this book I too learned a few new things, and that is what it is all about! I also hope you were not too irritated with seeing similarities (okay 80x86 targeted and refined copies) of some of the chapters found in my vector book. But that shouldn't stop you from buying a copy of my vector book! After all, this book is actually the prequel to that book!

Please send an email to [e-mail] to register your email address as a purchaser of this book. Insert the word "Register" into the Subject field and in the message section, list your processors of interest and any other comment. I can add you to an update notification list to let you know when additional code samples or chapter supplements are available for download. Or you can just make a comment about this book. For additional information or related links, check out the associated web site at http://www.leiterman.com/books.html.

Oh, and one last item. Buy my brother's books as well. He has a large family too and can use some extra income! What books you ask? Rewind the book and read the preface!

Happy bit twiddling!