Thinking in x64

A Programmer’s Introduction to Assembly and Execution

If you’re a programmer who’s comfortable writing code but curious about what happens under the hood, this book is for you.

Thinking in x64 is a practical, approachable guide to x86_64 assembly programming, written for software engineers who want to understand how code translates to instructions and how those instructions get executed by real hardware. No prior experience with assembly is required.

What’s inside (so far)

This book is a work in progress, and early buyers will receive all updates for free. The current chapters include:

• Chapter 1: What Happens When Code Runs
  A programmer-friendly introduction to computer architecture — covering ALUs, registers, control units, instruction execution cycles, and how high-level code maps to real hardware.
• Chapter 2: Binary Number System
  Everything you need to know about how data is represented in bits — including signed and unsigned numbers, two’s complement, and bitwise operations — with visual explanations and practical relevance.
• Coming Soon: Chapter 3 – Your First x64 Assembly Program
  A minimal “Hello, World” in assembly from scratch — no C, no runtime — just raw instructions and a walkthrough of what’s happening, step by step.

Why this book?

Most assembly resources are either too low-level and academic, or too abstract and outdated. Thinking in x64 takes a code-first, concept-backed approach that:

• Builds your intuition from first principles
• Focuses on clarity, not memorization
• Bridges the gap between the code you write and the CPU that runs it
• Prepares you to explore systems programming with confidence

A living document

This is an early access release. More chapters will be added over time — covering topics like:

• Registers and calling conventions
• System calls and memory addressing
• Functions, loops, and conditionals in assembly
• Inline assembly in C and more
• Memory allocation
• static and dynamic linking

All future updates are included with your purchase.

Whether you're exploring systems engineering, building better mental models of performance, or just deeply curious, this book will help you reason about computers from the ground up.

Let me know if you'd like a shorter version for the summary or social posts as well.