Book excerpt: "So in this book we are going through a crash course on 8086/8088 assembly language. We will fly fast and try to practice each thing as we learn it. And no example exceeds 512 bytes of machine code! Also you'll see how you can build small games using assembly language speaking directly to the heart of the computer. I've included 4 of my best examples of boot sector games: F-Bird, Invaders, Pillman, and Toledo Atomchess. For learning purposes I've included screen art programs in sections 4.3 (text mode) and 5.6 (Mandelbrot set). For this book I assume you have previous knowledge of programming in any high-level language that includes hexadecimal numbers, like C, C++, PHP, Java, Javascript, etc., and how to use command-line on Windows, Linux or Mac OS X." -- page x.