Being CS

Understanding Advanced x86

After focusing on the Linux Kernel for the last few days, I am now going back to the "basics" and looking at how exactly advanced x86 features work. Programmers who have read about the x86 ISA have probably heard about real and protected mode, and understand the basics of segmentation. Really understanding these features is, however, difficult which is why many of them are used as little as possible in modern code. Unfortunately, programmers must still understand these concepts when they do appear. Because of this I have been reading a few guides to understanding segmentation, and have found a particularly useful three part introduction at Embedded.com. Part 1 covers Protected Mode, Part 2 Protection and Segmentation, and Part 3 Paging. Some time in the future I definitely need to work my way through the Intel x86 ISA reference manuals, to really understand the details.