Machine Code for Beginners
Machine Code for Beginners by Usborneby Usborne
Shares rank 38 of 115 programming books by recommenders
People recommend it as a clear, comprehensive introduction to low-level computing and machine code, still useful despite its age.
People recommend it as a clear, comprehensive introduction to low-level computing and machine code, still useful despite its age.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Teaches low-level computer concepts well
“It's actually very good. I remember reading it at age 11 or so, and coming away knowing much more low-level stuff about computers”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Usborne 1980s Computer Books” “I learned about machine code and two's complement from the Machine Code for Beginners book.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Usborne 1980s Computer Books” Bridged gap for young learners
“If my school's library had had Machine Code for Beginners, my career might have been very different.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Usborne 1980s Computer Books” “their machine code book(s) would've been the link I needed to bridge the gap”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Usborne 1980s Computer Books”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Machine Code for Beginnersby UsborneThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I learned about machine code and two's complement from the Machine Code for Beginners book.”
“their machine code book(s) would've been the link I needed to bridge the gap”
“It's actually very good. I remember reading it at age 11 or so, and coming away knowing much more low-level stuff about computers”
“If my school's library had had Machine Code for Beginners, my career might have been very different.”
“Pretty comprehensive considering it is 43 years old and in BASIC”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.