IntroductionThe reverse engineering learning process is similar to that of foreign language acquisition for adults. The first phase of learning a foreign language begins with an introduction to letters in the alphabet, which are used to construct words with well-defined semantics. The next phase involves understanding the grammatical rules governing how words are glued together to produce a proper sentence. After being accustomed to these rules, one then learns how to stitch multiple sentences together to articulate complex thoughts. Eventually it reaches the point where the learner can read large books written in different styles and still understand the thoughts therein. At this point, one can read reference books on the more esoteric aspects of the language—historical syntax, phonology, and so on.
In reverse engineering, the language is the architecture and assembly language. A word is an assembly instruction. Paragraphs are sequences of assembly instructions. A book is a program. However, to fully understand a book, the reader needs to know more than just vocabulary and grammar. These additional elements include structure and style of prose, unwritten rules of writing, and others. Understanding computer programs also requires a mastery of concepts beyond assembly instructions.
It can be somewhat intimidating to start learning an entirely new technical subject from a book. However, we would be misleading you if we were to claim that reverse engineering is a simple learning endeavor and that it can be completely mastered by reading this book. The learning process is quite involved because it requires knowledge from several disparate domains of knowledge. For example, an effective reverse engineer needs to be knowledgeable in computer architecture, systems programming, operating systems, compilers, and so on; for certain areas, a strong mathematical background is necessary. So how do you know where to start? The answer depends on your experience and skills. Because we cannot accommodate everyone's background, this introduction outlines the learning and reading methods for those without any programming background. You should find your “position” in the spectrum and start from there.
For the sake of discussion, we loosely define reverse engineering as the process of understanding a system. It is a problem-solving process. A system can be a hardware device, a software program, a physical or chemical process, and so on. For the purposes of the book, the system is a software program. To understand a program, you must first understand how software is written. Hence, the first requirement is knowing how to program a computer through a language such as C, C++, Java, and others. We suggest first learning C due to its simplicity, effectiveness, and ubiquity. Some excellent references to consider are The C Programming Language, by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie (Prentice Hall, 1988) and C: A Reference Manual, by Samuel Harbison (Prentice Hall, 2002). After becoming comfortable with writing, compiling, and debugging basic programs, consider reading Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets, by Peter van der Linden (Prentice Hall, 1994). At this point, you should be familiar with high-level concepts such as variables, scopes, functions, pointers, conditionals, loops, call stacks, and libraries. Knowledge of data structures such as stacks, queues, linked lists, and trees might be useful, but they are not entirely necessary for now. To top it off, you might skim through Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools, by Alfred Aho, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey Ullman, (Prentice Hall, 1994) and Linkers and Loaders, by John Levine (Morgan Kaufmann, 1999), to get a better understanding of how a program is really put together. The key purpose of reading these books is to gain exposure to basic concepts; you do not have to understand every page for now (there will be time for that later). Overachievers should consider Advanced Compiler Design and Implementation, by Steven Muchnick (Morgan Kaufmann, 1997).
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