Assembly Language
Assembly Language
Advertisements
Previous Page
Next Page
46 Lectures 2 hours
Frahaan Hussain
More Detail
23 Lectures 12 hours
Uplatz
More Detail
Assembly - Introduction
What is Assembly Language?
Each personal computer has a microprocessor that manages the computer's arithmetical,
logical, and control activities.
Each family of processors has its own set of instructions for handling various operations
such as getting input from keyboard, displaying information on screen and performing
various other jobs. These set of instructions are called 'machine language instructions'.
A processor understands only machine language instructions, which are strings of 1's and
0's. However, machine language is too obscure and complex for using in software
development. So, the low-level assembly language is designed for a specific family of
processors that represents various instructions in symbolic code and a more
understandable form.
Bit value 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Bit number 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
The value of a binary number is based on the presence of 1 bits and their positional value.
So, the value of a given binary number is −
1 + 2 + 4 + 8 +16 + 32 + 64 + 128 = 255
which is same as 28 - 1.
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 10 2
3 11 3
4 100 4
5 101 5
6 110 6
7 111 7
8 1000 8
9 1001 9
10 1010 A
11 1011 B
12 1100 C
13 1101 D
14 1110 E
15 1111 F
Binary Arithmetic
The following table illustrates four simple rules for binary addition −
0 1 1 1
+0 +0 +1 +1
=0 =1 =10 =11
Rules (iii) and (iv) show a carry of a 1-bit into the next left position.
Example
Decimal Binary
60 00111100
+42 00101010
102 01100110
Number 53 00110101
Add 1 00000001
To subtract one value from another, convert the number being subtracted to two's
complement format and add the numbers.
Example
Subtract 42 from 53
Number 53 00110101
Number 42 00101010
Add 1 00000001
53 - 42 = 11 00001011
x: memory address
When the processor gets the numeric data from memory to register, it again reverses the
bytes. There are two kinds of memory addresses −
• Absolute address - a direct reference of specific location.
• Segment address (or offset) - starting address of a memory segment with the offset
value.
Assembly - Environment Setup
Local Environment Setup
Assembly language is dependent upon the instruction set and the architecture of the
processor. In this tutorial, we focus on Intel-32 processors like Pentium. To follow this
tutorial, you will need −
Installing NASM
If you select "Development Tools" while installing Linux, you may get NASM installed
along with the Linux operating system and you do not need to download and install it
separately. For checking whether you already have NASM installed, take the following
steps −
• Open a Linux terminal.
• Type whereis nasm and press ENTER.
• If it is already installed, then a line like, nasm: /usr/bin/nasm appears. Otherwise,
you will see just nasm:, then you need to install NASM.
To install NASM, take the following steps −
• Check The netwide assembler (NASM) website for the latest version.
• Download the Linux source archive nasm-X.XX.ta.gz, where X.XX is the NASM version
number in the archive.
• Unpack the archive into a directory which creates a subdirectory nasm-X. XX.
• cd to nasm-X.XX and type ./configure. This shell script will find the best C compiler
to use and set up Makefiles accordingly.
• Type make to build the nasm and ndisasm binaries.
• Type make install to install nasm and ndisasm in /usr/local/bin and to install the
man pages.
This should install NASM on your system. Alternatively, you can use an RPM distribution
for the Fedora Linux. This version is simpler to install, just double-click the RPM file.
Comments
Assembly language comment begins with a semicolon (;). It may contain any printable
character including blank. It can appear on a line by itself, like −
; This program displays a message on screen
or, on the same line along with an instruction, like −
add eax, ebx ; adds ebx to eax
section .data
msg db 'Hello, world!', 0xa ;string to be printed
len equ $ - msg ;length of the string
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Hello, world!
Memory Segments
A segmented memory model divides the system memory into groups of independent
segments referenced by pointers located in the segment registers. Each segment is used
to contain a specific type of data. One segment is used to contain instruction codes,
another segment stores the data elements, and a third segment keeps the program stack.
In the light of the above discussion, we can specify various memory segments as −
• Data segment − It is represented by .data section and the .bss. The .data section
is used to declare the memory region, where data elements are stored for the
program. This section cannot be expanded after the data elements are declared,
and it remains static throughout the program.
The .bss section is also a static memory section that contains buffers for data to be
declared later in the program. This buffer memory is zero-filled.
• Code segment − It is represented by .text section. This defines an area in memory
that stores the instruction codes. This is also a fixed area.
• Stack − This segment contains data values passed to functions and procedures
within the program.
Assembly - Registers
Processor operations mostly involve processing data. This data can be stored in memory
and accessed from thereon. However, reading data from and storing data into memory
slows down the processor, as it involves complicated processes of sending the data
request across the control bus and into the memory storage unit and getting the data
through the same channel.
To speed up the processor operations, the processor includes some internal memory
storage locations, called registers.
The registers store data elements for processing without having to access the memory.
A limited number of registers are built into the processor chip.
Processor Registers
There are ten 32-bit and six 16-bit processor registers in IA-32 architecture. The registers
are grouped into three categories −
• General registers,
• Control registers, and
• Segment registers.
The general registers are further divided into the following groups −
• Data registers,
• Pointer registers, and
• Index registers.
Data Registers
Four 32-bit data registers are used for arithmetic, logical, and other operations. These 32-
bit registers can be used in three ways −
• As complete 32-bit data registers: EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX.
• Lower halves of the 32-bit registers can be used as four 16-bit data registers: AX,
BX, CX and DX.
• Lower and higher halves of the above-mentioned four 16-bit registers can be used
as eight 8-bit data registers: AH, AL, BH, BL, CH, CL, DH, and DL.
Pointer Registers
The pointer registers are 32-bit EIP, ESP, and EBP registers and corresponding 16-bit
right portions IP, SP, and BP. There are three categories of pointer registers −
• Instruction Pointer (IP) − The 16-bit IP register stores the offset address of the
next instruction to be executed. IP in association with the CS register (as CS:IP)
gives the complete address of the current instruction in the code segment.
• Stack Pointer (SP) − The 16-bit SP register provides the offset value within the
program stack. SP in association with the SS register (SS:SP) refers to be current
position of data or address within the program stack.
• Base Pointer (BP) − The 16-bit BP register mainly helps in referencing the
parameter variables passed to a subroutine. The address in SS register is
combined with the offset in BP to get the location of the parameter. BP can also be
combined with DI and SI as base register for special addressing.
Index Registers
The 32-bit index registers, ESI and EDI, and their 16-bit rightmost portions. SI and DI, are
used for indexed addressing and sometimes used in addition and subtraction. There are
two sets of index pointers −
• Source Index (SI) − It is used as source index for string operations.
• Destination Index (DI) − It is used as destination index for string operations.
Control Registers
The 32-bit instruction pointer register and the 32-bit flags register combined are
considered as the control registers.
Many instructions involve comparisons and mathematical calculations and change the
status of the flags and some other conditional instructions test the value of these status
flags to take the control flow to other location.
The common flag bits are:
• Overflow Flag (OF) − It indicates the overflow of a high-order bit (leftmost bit) of
data after a signed arithmetic operation.
• Direction Flag (DF) − It determines left or right direction for moving or comparing
string data. When the DF value is 0, the string operation takes left-to-right direction
and when the value is set to 1, the string operation takes right-to-left direction.
• Interrupt Flag (IF) − It determines whether the external interrupts like keyboard
entry, etc., are to be ignored or processed. It disables the external interrupt when
the value is 0 and enables interrupts when set to 1.
• Trap Flag (TF) − It allows setting the operation of the processor in single-step
mode. The DEBUG program we used sets the trap flag, so we could step through
the execution one instruction at a time.
• Sign Flag (SF) − It shows the sign of the result of an arithmetic operation. This flag
is set according to the sign of a data item following the arithmetic operation. The
sign is indicated by the high-order of leftmost bit. A positive result clears the value
of SF to 0 and negative result sets it to 1.
• Zero Flag (ZF) − It indicates the result of an arithmetic or comparison operation. A
nonzero result clears the zero flag to 0, and a zero result sets it to 1.
• Auxiliary Carry Flag (AF) − It contains the carry from bit 3 to bit 4 following an
arithmetic operation; used for specialized arithmetic. The AF is set when a 1-byte
arithmetic operation causes a carry from bit 3 into bit 4.
• Parity Flag (PF) − It indicates the total number of 1-bits in the result obtained from
an arithmetic operation. An even number of 1-bits clears the parity flag to 0 and an
odd number of 1-bits sets the parity flag to 1.
• Carry Flag (CF) − It contains the carry of 0 or 1 from a high-order bit (leftmost)
after an arithmetic operation. It also stores the contents of last bit of
a shift or rotate operation.
The following table indicates the position of flag bits in the 16-bit Flags register:
Flag: O D I T S Z A P C
Bit no: 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Segment Registers
Segments are specific areas defined in a program for containing data, code and stack.
There are three main segments −
• Code Segment − It contains all the instructions to be executed. A 16-bit Code
Segment register or CS register stores the starting address of the code segment.
• Data Segment − It contains data, constants and work areas. A 16-bit Data
Segment register or DS register stores the starting address of the data segment.
• Stack Segment − It contains data and return addresses of procedures or
subroutines. It is implemented as a 'stack' data structure. The Stack Segment
register or SS register stores the starting address of the stack.
Apart from the DS, CS and SS registers, there are other extra segment registers - ES
(extra segment), FS and GS, which provide additional segments for storing data.
In assembly programming, a program needs to access the memory locations. All memory
locations within a segment are relative to the starting address of the segment. A segment
begins in an address evenly divisible by 16 or hexadecimal 10. So, the rightmost hex digit
in all such memory addresses is 0, which is not generally stored in the segment registers.
The segment registers stores the starting addresses of a segment. To get the exact
location of data or instruction within a segment, an offset value (or displacement) is
required. To reference any memory location in a segment, the processor combines the
segment address in the segment register with the offset value of the location.
Example
Look at the following simple program to understand the use of registers in assembly
programming. This program displays 9 stars on the screen along with a simple message
−
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for linker (gcc)
section .data
msg db 'Displaying 9 stars',0xa ;a message
len equ $ - msg ;length of message
s2 times 9 db '*'
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Displaying 9 stars
*********
Assembly - System Calls
System calls are APIs for the interface between the user space and the kernel space. We
have already used the system calls. sys_write and sys_exit, for writing into the screen
and exiting from the program, respectively.
1 sys_exit int - - - -
Example
The following example reads a number from the keyboard and displays it on the screen
−
Live Demo
section .data ;Data segment
userMsg db 'Please enter a number: ' ;Ask the user to enter a number
lenUserMsg equ $-userMsg ;The length of the message
dispMsg db 'You have entered: '
lenDispMsg equ $-dispMsg
; Exit code
mov eax, 1
mov ebx, 0
int 80h
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Please enter a number:
1234
You have entered:1234
Assembly - Addressing Modes
Most assembly language instructions require operands to be processed. An operand
address provides the location, where the data to be processed is stored. Some
instructions do not require an operand, whereas some other instructions may require one,
two, or three operands.
When an instruction requires two operands, the first operand is generally the destination,
which contains data in a register or memory location and the second operand is the
source. Source contains either the data to be delivered (immediate addressing) or the
address (in register or memory) of the data. Generally, the source data remains unaltered
after the operation.
The three basic modes of addressing are −
• Register addressing
• Immediate addressing
• Memory addressing
Register Addressing
In this addressing mode, a register contains the operand. Depending upon the instruction,
the register may be the first operand, the second operand or both.
For example,
MOV DX, TAX_RATE ; Register in first operand
MOV COUNT, CX ; Register in second operand
MOV EAX, EBX ; Both the operands are in registers
As processing data between registers does not involve memory, it provides fastest
processing of data.
Immediate Addressing
An immediate operand has a constant value or an expression. When an instruction with
two operands uses immediate addressing, the first operand may be a register or memory
location, and the second operand is an immediate constant. The first operand defines the
length of the data.
For example,
BYTE_VALUE DB 150 ; A byte value is defined
WORD_VALUE DW 300 ; A word value is defined
ADD BYTE_VALUE, 65 ; An immediate operand 65 is added
MOV AX, 45H ; Immediate constant 45H is transferred to AX
Direct-Offset Addressing
This addressing mode uses the arithmetic operators to modify an address. For example,
look at the following definitions that define tables of data −
BYTE_TABLE DB 14, 15, 22, 45 ; Tables of bytes
WORD_TABLE DW 134, 345, 564, 123 ; Tables of words
The following operations access data from the tables in the memory into registers −
MOV CL, BYTE_TABLE[2] ; Gets the 3rd element of the BYTE_TABLE
MOV CL, BYTE_TABLE + 2 ; Gets the 3rd element of the BYTE_TABLE
MOV CX, WORD_TABLE[3] ; Gets the 4th element of the WORD_TABLE
MOV CX, WORD_TABLE + 3 ; Gets the 4th element of the WORD_TABLE
BYTE 1
WORD 2
DWORD 4
QWORD 8
TBYTE 10
Example
The following program illustrates some of the concepts discussed above. It stores a name
'Zara Ali' in the data section of the memory, then changes its value to another name 'Nuha
Ali' programmatically and displays both the names.
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for linker (ld)
_start: ;tell linker entry point
section .data
name db 'Zara Ali '
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Zara Ali Nuha Ali
Assembly - Variables
NASM provides various define directives for reserving storage space for variables. The
define assembler directive is used for allocation of storage space. It can be used to
reserve as well as initialize one or more bytes.
section .data
choice DB 'y'
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
y
Directive Purpose
Multiple Definitions
You can have multiple data definition statements in a program. For example −
choice DB 'Y' ;ASCII of y = 79H
number1 DW 12345 ;12345D = 3039H
number2 DD 12345679 ;123456789D = 75BCD15H
The assembler allocates contiguous memory for multiple variable definitions.
Multiple Initializations
The TIMES directive allows multiple initializations to the same value. For example, an
array named marks of size 9 can be defined and initialized to zero using the following
statement −
marks TIMES 9 DW 0
The TIMES directive is useful in defining arrays and tables. The following program
displays 9 asterisks on the screen −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for linker (ld)
section .data
stars times 9 db '*'
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
*********
Assembly - Constants
There are several directives provided by NASM that define constants. We have already
used the EQU directive in previous chapters. We will particularly discuss three directives
−
• EQU
• %assign
• %define
section .data
msg1 db 'Hello, programmers!',0xA,0xD
len1 equ $ - msg1
segment .text
inc [count]
dec [value]
• Register to register
• Memory to register
• Register to memory
• Register to constant data
• Memory to constant data
However, like other instructions, memory-to-memory operations are not possible using
ADD/SUB instructions. An ADD or SUB operation sets or clears the overflow and carry
flags.
Example
The following example will ask two digits from the user, store the digits in the EAX and
EBX register, respectively, add the values, store the result in a memory location 'res' and
finally display the result.
Live Demo
SYS_EXIT equ 1
SYS_READ equ 3
SYS_WRITE equ 4
STDIN equ 0
STDOUT equ 1
segment .data
segment .bss
num1 resb 2
num2 resb 2
res resb 1
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
; moving the first number to eax register and second number to ebx
; and subtracting ascii '0' to convert it into a decimal number
exit:
mov ecx,sum
mov edx, 1
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
section .data
msg db "The sum is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $ - msg
segment .bss
sum resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The sum is:
7
Sr.No. Scenarios
1
When two bytes are multiplied −
The multiplicand is in the AL register, and the multiplier is a byte in the memory or
in another register. The product is in AX. High-order 8 bits of the product is stored
in AH and the low-order 8 bits are stored in AL.
2
When two one-word values are multiplied −
The multiplicand should be in the AX register, and the multiplier is a word in memory
or another register. For example, for an instruction like MUL DX, you must store the
multiplier in DX and the multiplicand in AX.
The resultant product is a doubleword, which will need two registers. The high-order
(leftmost) portion gets stored in DX and the lower-order (rightmost) portion gets
stored in AX.
3
When two doubleword values are multiplied −
When two doubleword values are multiplied, the multiplicand should be in EAX and
the multiplier is a doubleword value stored in memory or in another register. The
product generated is stored in the EDX:EAX registers, i.e., the high order 32 bits
gets stored in the EDX register and the low order 32-bits are stored in the EAX
register.
Example
MOV AL, 10
MOV DL, 25
MUL DL
...
MOV DL, 0FFH ; DL= -1
MOV AL, 0BEH ; AL = -66
IMUL DL
Example
The following example multiplies 3 with 2, and displays the result −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
mov [res], al
mov ecx,msg
mov edx, len
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
mov ecx,res
mov edx, 1
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
section .data
msg db "The result is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $- msg
segment .bss
res resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The result is:
6
Sr.No. Scenarios
1
When the divisor is 1 byte −
The dividend is assumed to be in the AX register (16 bits). After division, the
quotient goes to the AL register and the remainder goes to the AH register.
2
When the divisor is 1 word −
The dividend is assumed to be 32 bits long and in the DX:AX registers. The high-
order 16 bits are in DX and the low-order 16 bits are in AX. After division, the 16-bit
quotient goes to the AX register and the 16-bit remainder goes to the DX register.
3
When the divisor is doubleword −
The dividend is assumed to be 64 bits long and in the EDX:EAX registers. The high-
order 32 bits are in EDX and the low-order 32 bits are in EAX. After division, the 32-
bit quotient goes to the EAX register and the 32-bit remainder goes to the EDX
register.
Example
The following example divides 8 with 2. The dividend 8 is stored in the 16-bit AX
register and the divisor 2 is stored in the 8-bit BL register.
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
mov [res], ax
mov ecx,msg
mov edx, len
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
mov ecx,res
mov edx, 1
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
section .data
msg db "The result is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $- msg
segment .bss
res resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The result is:
4
Assembly - Logical Instructions
The processor instruction set provides the instructions AND, OR, XOR, TEST, and NOT
Boolean logic, which tests, sets, and clears the bits according to the need of the program.
The format for these instructions −
2 OR OR operand1, operand2
outprog:
section .data
even_msg db 'Even Number!' ;message showing even number
len1 equ $ - even_msg
The OR Instruction
The OR instruction is used for supporting logical expression by performing bitwise OR
operation. The bitwise OR operator returns 1, if the matching bits from either or both
operands are one. It returns 0, if both the bits are zero.
For example,
Operand1: 0101
Operand2: 0011
----------------------------
After OR -> Operand1: 0111
The OR operation can be used for setting one or more bits. For example, let us assume
the AL register contains 0011 1010, you need to set the four low-order bits, you can OR
it with a value 0000 1111, i.e., FH.
OR BL, 0FH ; This sets BL to 0011 1111
Example
The following example demonstrates the OR instruction. Let us store the value 5 and 3 in
the AL and the BL registers, respectively, then the instruction,
OR AL, BL
should store 7 in the AL register −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
mov [result], al
mov eax, 4
mov ebx, 1
mov ecx, result
mov edx, 1
int 0x80
outprog:
mov eax,1 ;system call number (sys_exit)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
section .bss
result resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
7
1
Unconditional jump
This is performed by the JMP instruction. Conditional execution often involves a
transfer of control to the address of an instruction that does not follow the currently
executing instruction. Transfer of control may be forward, to execute a new set of
instructions or backward, to re-execute the same steps.
2
Conditional jump
This is performed by a set of jump instructions j<condition> depending upon the
condition. The conditional instructions transfer the control by breaking the
sequential flow and they do it by changing the offset value in IP.
Let us discuss the CMP instruction before discussing the conditional instructions.
CMP Instruction
The CMP instruction compares two operands. It is generally used in conditional
execution. This instruction basically subtracts one operand from the other for comparing
whether the operands are equal or not. It does not disturb the destination or source
operands. It is used along with the conditional jump instruction for decision making.
Syntax
CMP destination, source
CMP compares two numeric data fields. The destination operand could be either in
register or in memory. The source operand could be a constant (immediate) data, register
or memory.
Example
CMP DX, 00 ; Compare the DX value with zero
JE L7 ; If yes, then jump to label L7
.
.
L7: ...
CMP is often used for comparing whether a counter value has reached the number of
times a loop needs to be run. Consider the following typical condition −
INC EDX
CMP EDX, 10 ; Compares whether the counter has reached 10
JLE LP1 ; If it is less than or equal to 10, then jump to LP1
Unconditional Jump
As mentioned earlier, this is performed by the JMP instruction. Conditional execution
often involves a transfer of control to the address of an instruction that does not follow the
currently executing instruction. Transfer of control may be forward, to execute a new set
of instructions or backward, to re-execute the same steps.
Syntax
The JMP instruction provides a label name where the flow of control is transferred
immediately. The syntax of the JMP instruction is −
JMP label
Example
The following code snippet illustrates the JMP instruction −
MOV AX, 00 ; Initializing AX to 0
MOV BX, 00 ; Initializing BX to 0
MOV CX, 01 ; Initializing CX to 1
L20:
ADD AX, 01 ; Increment AX
ADD BX, AX ; Add AX to BX
SHL CX, 1 ; shift left CX, this in turn doubles the CX value
JMP L20 ; repeats the statements
Conditional Jump
If some specified condition is satisfied in conditional jump, the control flow is transferred
to a target instruction. There are numerous conditional jump instructions depending upon
the condition and data.
Following are the conditional jump instructions used on signed data used for arithmetic
operations −
Following are the conditional jump instructions used on unsigned data used for logical
operations −
The following conditional jump instructions have special uses and check the value of flags
−
Instruction Description Flags tested
JC Jump If Carry CF
JO Jump If Overflow OF
Example
The following program displays the largest of three variables. The variables are double-
digit variables. The three variables num1, num2 and num3 have values 47, 22 and 31,
respectively −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
_exit:
mov ecx,largest
mov edx, 2
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
mov eax, 1
int 80h
section .data
segment .bss
largest resb 2
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The largest digit is:
47
Assembly - Loops
The JMP instruction can be used for implementing loops. For example, the following code
snippet can be used for executing the loop-body 10 times.
MOV CL, 10
L1:
<LOOP-BODY>
DEC CL
JNZ L1
The processor instruction set, however, includes a group of loop instructions for
implementing iteration. The basic LOOP instruction has the following syntax −
LOOP label
Where, label is the target label that identifies the target instruction as in the jump
instructions. The LOOP instruction assumes that the ECX register contains the loop
count. When the loop instruction is executed, the ECX register is decremented and the
control jumps to the target label, until the ECX register value, i.e., the counter reaches the
value zero.
The above code snippet could be written as −
mov ECX,10
l1:
<loop body>
loop l1
Example
The following program prints the number 1 to 9 on the screen −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
l1:
mov [num], eax
mov eax, 4
mov ebx, 1
push ecx
mov ecx,sum
mov edx, 1
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
section .data
msg db "The sum is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $ - msg
segment .bss
sum resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The sum is:
7
Such conversions, however, have an overhead, and assembly language programming
allows processing numbers in a more efficient way, in the binary form. Decimal numbers
can be represented in two forms −
• ASCII form
• BCD or Binary Coded Decimal form
ASCII Representation
In ASCII representation, decimal numbers are stored as string of ASCII characters. For
example, the decimal value 1234 is stored as −
31 32 33 34H
Where, 31H is ASCII value for 1, 32H is ASCII value for 2, and so on. There are four
instructions for processing numbers in ASCII representation −
• AAA − ASCII Adjust After Addition
• AAS − ASCII Adjust After Subtraction
• AAM − ASCII Adjust After Multiplication
• AAD − ASCII Adjust Before Division
These instructions do not take any operands and assume the required operand to be in
the AL register.
The following example uses the AAS instruction to demonstrate the concept −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
section .data
msg db 'The Result is:',0xa
len equ $ - msg
section .bss
res resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The Result is:
6
BCD Representation
There are two types of BCD representation −
Example
The following program adds up two 5-digit decimal numbers and displays the sum. It uses
the above concepts −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
section .data
msg db 'The Sum is:',0xa
len equ $ - msg
num1 db '12345'
num2 db '23456'
sum db ' '
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The Sum is:
35801
Assembly - Strings
We have already used variable length strings in our previous examples. The variable
length strings can have as many characters as required. Generally, we specify the length
of the string by either of the two ways −
String Instructions
Each string instruction may require a source operand, a destination operand or both. For
32-bit segments, string instructions use ESI and EDI registers to point to the source and
destination operands, respectively.
For 16-bit segments, however, the SI and the DI registers are used to point to the source
and destination, respectively.
There are five basic instructions for processing strings. They are −
• MOVS − This instruction moves 1 Byte, Word or Doubleword of data from memory
location to another.
• LODS − This instruction loads from memory. If the operand is of one byte, it is
loaded into the AL register, if the operand is one word, it is loaded into the AX
register and a doubleword is loaded into the EAX register.
• STOS − This instruction stores data from register (AL, AX, or EAX) to memory.
• CMPS − This instruction compares two data items in memory. Data could be of a
byte size, word or doubleword.
• SCAS − This instruction compares the contents of a register (AL, AX or EAX) with
the contents of an item in memory.
Each of the above instruction has a byte, word, and doubleword version, and string
instructions can be repeated by using a repetition prefix.
These instructions use the ES:DI and DS:SI pair of registers, where DI and SI registers
contain valid offset addresses that refers to bytes stored in memory. SI is normally
associated with DS (data segment) and DI is always associated with ES (extra segment).
The DS:SI (or ESI) and ES:DI (or EDI) registers point to the source and destination
operands, respectively. The source operand is assumed to be at DS:SI (or ESI) and the
destination operand at ES:DI (or EDI) in memory.
For 16-bit addresses, the SI and DI registers are used, and for 32-bit addresses, the ESI
and EDI registers are used.
The following table provides various versions of string instructions and the assumed
space of the operands.
Repetition Prefixes
The REP prefix, when set before a string instruction, for example - REP MOVSB, causes
repetition of the instruction based on a counter placed at the CX register. REP executes
the instruction, decreases CX by 1, and checks whether CX is zero. It repeats the
instruction processing until CX is zero.
The Direction Flag (DF) determines the direction of the operation.
• Use CLD (Clear Direction Flag, DF = 0) to make the operation left to right.
• Use STD (Set Direction Flag, DF = 1) to make the operation right to left.
The REP prefix also has the following variations:
• REP: It is the unconditional repeat. It repeats the operation until CX is zero.
• REPE or REPZ: It is conditional repeat. It repeats the operation while the zero flag
indicates equal/zero. It stops when the ZF indicates not equal/zero or when CX is
zero.
• REPNE or REPNZ: It is also conditional repeat. It repeats the operation while the
zero flag indicates not equal/zero. It stops when the ZF indicates equal/zero or
when CX is decremented to zero.
Assembly - Arrays
We have already discussed that the data definition directives to the assembler are used
for allocating storage for variables. The variable could also be initialized with some
specific value. The initialized value could be specified in hexadecimal, decimal or binary
form.
For example, we can define a word variable 'months' in either of the following way −
MONTHS DW 12
MONTHS DW 0CH
MONTHS DW 0110B
The data definition directives can also be used for defining a one-dimensional array. Let
us define a one-dimensional array of numbers.
NUMBERS DW 34, 45, 56, 67, 75, 89
The above definition declares an array of six words each initialized with the numbers 34,
45, 56, 67, 75, 89. This allocates 2x6 = 12 bytes of consecutive memory space. The
symbolic address of the first number will be NUMBERS and that of the second number
will be NUMBERS + 2 and so on.
Let us take up another example. You can define an array named inventory of size 8, and
initialize all the values with zero, as −
INVENTORY DW 0
DW 0
DW 0
DW 0
DW 0
DW 0
DW 0
DW 0
Which can be abbreviated as −
INVENTORY DW 0, 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0
The TIMES directive can also be used for multiple initializations to the same value. Using
TIMES, the INVENTORY array can be defined as:
INVENTORY TIMES 8 DW 0
Example
The following example demonstrates the above concepts by defining a 3-element array
x, which stores three values: 2, 3 and 4. It adds the values in the array and displays the
sum 9 −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for linker (ld)
_start:
done:
display:
section .data
global x
x:
db 2
db 4
db 3
sum:
db 0
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
9
Assembly - Procedures
Procedures or subroutines are very important in assembly language, as the assembly
language programs tend to be large in size. Procedures are identified by a name.
Following this name, the body of the procedure is described which performs a well-
defined job. End of the procedure is indicated by a return statement.
Syntax
Following is the syntax to define a procedure −
proc_name:
procedure body
...
ret
The procedure is called from another function by using the CALL instruction. The CALL
instruction should have the name of the called procedure as an argument as shown below
−
CALL proc_name
The called procedure returns the control to the calling procedure by using the RET
instruction.
Example
Let us write a very simple procedure named sum that adds the variables stored in the
ECX and EDX register and returns the sum in the EAX register −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
section .data
msg db "The sum is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $- msg
segment .bss
res resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The sum is:
9
display:
mov ecx, 256
next:
push ecx
mov eax, 4
mov ebx, 1
mov ecx, achar
mov edx, 1
int 80h
pop ecx
mov dx, [achar]
cmp byte [achar], 0dh
inc byte [achar]
loop next
ret
section .data
achar db '0'
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|
}
...
...
Assembly - Recursion
A recursive procedure is one that calls itself. There are two kind of recursion: direct and
indirect. In direct recursion, the procedure calls itself and in indirect recursion, the first
procedure calls a second procedure, which in turn calls the first procedure.
Recursion could be observed in numerous mathematical algorithms. For example,
consider the case of calculating the factorial of a number. Factorial of a number is given
by the equation −
Fact (n) = n * fact (n-1) for n > 0
For example: factorial of 5 is 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 = 5 x factorial of 4 and this can be a good
example of showing a recursive procedure. Every recursive algorithm must have an
ending condition, i.e., the recursive calling of the program should be stopped when a
condition is fulfilled. In the case of factorial algorithm, the end condition is reached when
n is 0.
The following program shows how factorial n is implemented in assembly language. To
keep the program simple, we will calculate factorial 3.
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
proc_fact:
cmp bl, 1
jg do_calculation
mov ax, 1
ret
do_calculation:
dec bl
call proc_fact
inc bl
mul bl ;ax = al * bl
ret
section .data
msg db 'Factorial 3 is:',0xa
len equ $ - msg
section .bss
fact resb 1
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Factorial 3 is:
6
Assembly - Macros
Writing a macro is another way of ensuring modular programming in assembly language.
• A macro is a sequence of instructions, assigned by a name and could be used
anywhere in the program.
• In NASM, macros are defined with %macro and %endmacro directives.
• The macro begins with the %macro directive and ends with the %endmacro
directive.
The Syntax for macro definition −
%macro macro_name number_of_params
<macro body>
%endmacro
Where, number_of_params specifies the number parameters, macro_name specifies the
name of the macro.
The macro is invoked by using the macro name along with the necessary parameters.
When you need to use some sequence of instructions many times in a program, you can
put those instructions in a macro and use it instead of writing the instructions all the time.
For example, a very common need for programs is to write a string of characters in the
screen. For displaying a string of characters, you need the following sequence of
instructions −
mov edx,len ;message length
mov ecx,msg ;message to write
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
In the above example of displaying a character string, the registers EAX, EBX, ECX and
EDX have been used by the INT 80H function call. So, each time you need to display on
screen, you need to save these registers on the stack, invoke INT 80H and then restore
the original value of the registers from the stack. So, it could be useful to write two macros
for saving and restoring data.
We have observed that, some instructions like IMUL, IDIV, INT, etc., need some of the
information to be stored in some particular registers and even return values in some
specific register(s). If the program was already using those registers for keeping important
data, then the existing data from these registers should be saved in the stack and restored
after the instruction is executed.
Example
Following example shows defining and using macros −
Live Demo
; A macro with two parameters
; Implements the write system call
%macro write_string 2
mov eax, 4
mov ebx, 1
mov ecx, %1
mov edx, %2
int 80h
%endmacro
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
section .data
msg1 db 'Hello, programmers!',0xA,0xD
len1 equ $ - msg1
File Descriptor
A file descriptor is a 16-bit integer assigned to a file as a file id. When a new file is
created or an existing file is opened, the file descriptor is used for accessing the file.
File descriptor of the standard file streams - stdin, stdout and stderr are 0, 1 and 2,
respectively.
File Pointer
A file pointer specifies the location for a subsequent read/write operation in the file in
terms of bytes. Each file is considered as a sequence of bytes. Each open file is
associated with a file pointer that specifies an offset in bytes, relative to the beginning of
the file. When a file is opened, the file pointer is set to zero.
The steps required for using the system calls are same, as we discussed earlier −
Writing to a File
For writing to a file, perform the following tasks −
• Put the system call sys_write() number 4, in the EAX register.
• Put the file descriptor in the EBX register.
• Put the pointer to the output buffer in the ECX register.
• Put the buffer size, i.e., the number of bytes to write, in the EDX register.
The system call returns the actual number of bytes written in the EAX register, in case of
error, the error code is in the EAX register.
Closing a File
For closing a file, perform the following tasks −
Updating a File
For updating a file, perform the following tasks −
• Put the system call sys_lseek () number 19, in the EAX register.
• Put the file descriptor in the EBX register.
• Put the offset value in the ECX register.
• Put the reference position for the offset in the EDX register.
The reference position could be:
Example
The following program creates and opens a file named myfile.txt, and writes a text
'Welcome to Tutorials Point' in this file. Next, the program reads from the file and stores
the data into a buffer named info. Lastly, it displays the text as stored in info.
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
section .data
file_name db 'myfile.txt'
msg db 'Welcome to Tutorials Point'
len equ $-msg
section .bss
fd_out resb 1
fd_in resb 1
info resb 26
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Written to file
Welcome to Tutorials Point
Assembly - Memory Management
The sys_brk() system call is provided by the kernel, to allocate memory without the need
of moving it later. This call allocates memory right behind the application image in the
memory. This system function allows you to set the highest available address in the data
section.
This system call takes one parameter, which is the highest memory address needed to
be set. This value is stored in the EBX register.
In case of any error, sys_brk() returns -1 or returns the negative error code itself. The
following example demonstrates dynamic memory allocation.
Example
The following program allocates 16kb of memory using the sys_brk() system call −
Live Demo
section .text
global _start ;must be declared for using gcc
cmp eax, 0
jl exit ;exit, if error
mov edi, eax ;EDI = highest available address
sub edi, 4 ;pointing to the last DWORD
mov ecx, 4096 ;number of DWORDs allocated
xor eax, eax ;clear eax
std ;backward
rep stosd ;repete for entire allocated area
cld ;put DF flag to normal state
mov eax, 4
mov ebx, 1
mov ecx, msg
mov edx, len
int 80h ;print a message
exit:
mov eax, 1
xor ebx, ebx
int 80h
section .data
msg db "Allocated 16 kb of memory!", 10
len equ $ - msg
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Allocated 16 kb of memory!