Book excerpt: For freshman/sophomore-level courses in Assembly Language Programming, Introduction to Computer Organization, and Introduction to Computer Architecture. Students using this text will gain an understanding of how the functional components of modern computers are put together and how a computer works at the machine language level. MIPS architecture embodies the fundamental design principles of all contemporary RISC architectures. By incorporating this text into their courses, instructors will be able to prepare their undergraduate students to go on to upper-division computer organization courses.