Is deep understanding of disassembly algorithms essential when using a disassembler? No. Is it useful? Yes! Battling your tools is the last thing you want to spend time doing while reverse engineering. One of the many advantages of IDA is that, unlike most other disassemblers, it offers you plenty of opportunity to guide and override its decisions. The net result is that the finished product, an accurate disassembly, will be far superior to anything else available.

In the next chapter we will review a variety of existing tools that prove useful in many reverse engineering situations. While not directly related to IDA, many of these tools have influenced and been influenced by IDA, and they help to explain the wide variety of informational displays available in the IDA user interface.