Assembly Language Syntax

Syntax

• Assembly language syntax is specific to the computer architecture and assembler being used
• Typically consists of:
  • Opcode (operation code): specifies the operation to be performed
  • Operand (arguments): specifies the data or addresses used by the operation
  • Comments: begins with a semicolon (;) or other designated character
  • Labels: used to mark locations in the code
• Syntax examples:
  • MOV AX, 10 ; move the value 10 into the AX register
  • ADD AX, BX ; add the value in BX to AX

Instruction Sets

• Instruction set architecture (ISA) defines the set of instructions that a computer's processor can execute
• Instruction sets can be categorized as:
  • CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing): complex instructions that perform multiple tasks
  • RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing): simple instructions that perform a single task
• Examples of instruction sets:
  • x86 (Intel)
  • ARM (Advanced RISC Machines)
  • MIPS (MIPS Instruction Set)

Registers

• Registers are small amounts of memory built into the processor
• Used to store data temporarily while it is being processed
• Types of registers:
  • General-purpose registers: used to store both data and addresses
  • Floating-point registers: used to store floating-point numbers
  • Index registers: used to store addresses
  • Stack registers: used to store data and addresses for subroutine calls
• Examples of registers:
  • AX, BX, CX, DX (x86 architecture)
  • R0, R1, R2, R3 (ARM architecture)

Compiler Design

• Compiler design involves translating assembly language into machine code
• Steps involved in compiler design:
  1. Lexical analysis: breaks the source code into individual tokens
  2. Syntax analysis: analyzes the tokens to ensure they form a valid program
  3. Semantic analysis: analyzes the meaning of the program
  4. Code generation: generates machine code from the analyzed program
  5. Code optimization: optimizes the generated machine code
• Compiler design considerations:
  • Code density: packing as much code as possible into a small amount of memory
  • Code speed: optimizing code for execution speed

Memory Management

• Memory management involves allocating and deallocating memory for program execution
• Memory management techniques:
  • Static allocation: memory is allocated at compile time
  • Dynamic allocation: memory is allocated at runtime
  • Memory segmentation: dividing memory into segments or pages
  • Memory paging: dividing memory into fixed-size pages
• Memory management considerations:
  • Memory protection: preventing unauthorized access to memory
  • Memory fragmentation: minimizing memory waste due to fragmentation

Assembly Language Syntax

• Assembly language syntax is specific to the computer architecture and assembler being used
• Consists of opcode, operand, comments, and labels
• Opcode specifies the operation to be performed
• Operand specifies the data or addresses used by the operation
• Comments begin with a semicolon (;) or other designated character
• Labels are used to mark locations in the code
• Examples of assembly language syntax:
  • MOV AX, 10 ; move the value 10 into the AX register
  • ADD AX, BX ; add the value in BX to AX

Instruction Sets

• Instruction set architecture (ISA) defines the set of instructions that a computer's processor can execute
• Instruction sets can be categorized into:
  • CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing): complex instructions that perform multiple tasks
  • RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing): simple instructions that perform a single task
• Examples of instruction sets:
  • x86 (Intel)
  • ARM (Advanced RISC Machines)
  • MIPS (MIPS Instruction Set)

Registers

• Registers are small amounts of memory built into the processor
• Used to store data temporarily while it is being processed
• Types of registers:
  • General-purpose registers: used to store both data and addresses
  • Floating-point registers: used to store floating-point numbers
  • Index registers: used to store addresses
  • Stack registers: used to store data and addresses for subroutine calls
• Examples of registers:
  • AX, BX, CX, DX (x86 architecture)
  • R0, R1, R2, R3 (ARM architecture)

Compiler Design

• Compiler design involves translating assembly language into machine code
• Steps involved in compiler design:
  • Lexical analysis: breaks the source code into individual tokens
  • Syntax analysis: analyzes the tokens to ensure they form a valid program
  • Semantic analysis: analyzes the meaning of the program
  • Code generation: generates machine code from the analyzed program
  • Code optimization: optimizes the generated machine code
• Compiler design considerations:
  • Code density: packing as much code as possible into a small amount of memory
  • Code speed: optimizing code for execution speed

Memory Management

• Memory management involves allocating and deallocating memory for program execution
• Memory management techniques:
  • Static allocation: memory is allocated at compile time
  • Dynamic allocation: memory is allocated at runtime
  • Memory segmentation: dividing memory into segments or pages
  • Memory paging: dividing memory into fixed-size pages
• Memory management considerations:
  • Memory protection: preventing unauthorized access to memory
  • Memory fragmentation: minimizing memory waste due to fragmentation

Learn the basics of assembly language syntax, including opcodes, operands, comments, and labels, with examples of MOV and ADD instructions.