Machine Language for Beginners
Machine Language for Beginners by Richard Mansfieldby Richard Mansfield
Ranked 2 of 3 assembly language books by recommenders
Recommended as a conversational, general introduction to 6502 assembly for beginners, with a built-in assembler and a full walkthrough of its code.
Recommended as a conversational, general introduction to 6502 assembly for beginners, with a built-in assembler and a full walkthrough of its code.
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: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: 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
Good background and basics for beginners
“it is general but gives a good background and has a nice assembler with a full walk through of the code”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II” “This book specifically targets beginners that are new to 6502 assembly.”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II” “Does a good covering the basics in a very conversational manner.”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II” Includes assembler with code walkthrough
“I have fond memories from the late 1980s of trying to get the assembler contained within this book working”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II” “it is general but gives a good background and has a nice assembler with a full walk through of the code”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II”
Other assembly language books people recommend
The two most recommended other assembly language 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Art of 64-bit Assemblyby Randall Hyde | 6 | 1 | 86% | 1 | — | — |
| Machine Language for Beginnersby Richard MansfieldThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Assembly Linesby Roger Wagner | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I learned assembly as soon as I could finish entering all the damn numbers”
“it is general but gives a good background and has a nice assembler with a full walk through of the code”
“I have fond memories from the late 1980s of trying to get the assembler contained within this book working”
“Does a good covering the basics in a very conversational manner.”
“This book specifically targets beginners that are new to 6502 assembly.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.