Instead of having a huge reference section, and then a huge code description section, this tutorial introduces protected mode a little bit at a time. "Here's how this works. Now here's how the code needs to be written. Now write the code, and explore a little." It's probably not worth reading over the whole thing before starting. Just sit down at a computer and go through it step by step. It will take some time to complete this tutorial, but you'll learn everything the right way with no "black boxes" or mysterious files. If a file does seem mysterious, type it in instead of blindly pasting it in. Look at the references. Ask questions in the class newsgroup if something is puzzling. This tutorial covers more than just 32-bit protected mode itself; it also explains a little about how assemblers, compilers, and linkers work, a little about Makefiles, and a little about graphics. So let's begin where every good tutorial should begin-at the end.