Assembly Language for x86 Processors

7th Edition
Kip Irvine

Chapter 3: Assembly Language

Fundamentals

Slides prepared by the author

Revision date: 1/15/2014
(c) Pearson Education, 2015. All rights reserved. You may modify and copy this slide show for your personal use, or for
use in the classroom, as long as this copyright statement, the author's name, and the title are not changed.

Chapter Overview

Basic Elements of Assembly Language

Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
Assembling, Linking, and Running Programs
Defining Data
Symbolic Constants
64-Bit Programming

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

Basic Elements of Assembly Language

Integer constants
Integer expressions
Character and string constants
Reserved words and identifiers
Directives and instructions
Labels
Mnemonics and Operands
Comments
Examples

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

Integer Constants
Optional leading + or sign
binary, decimal, hexadecimal, or octal digits
Common radix characters:

h hexadecimal
d decimal
b binary
r encoded real

Examples: 30d, 6Ah, 42, 1101b

Hexadecimal beginning with letter: 0A5h

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

Integer Expressions
Operators and precedence levels:

Examples:

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

Character and String Constants

Enclose character in single or double quotes
'A', "x"
ASCII character = 1 byte

Enclose strings in single or double quotes

"ABC"
'xyz'
Each character occupies a single byte

Embedded quotes:
'Say "Goodnight," Gracie'

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

Reserved Words and Identifiers

Reserved words cannot be used as identifiers
Instruction mnemonics, directives, type attributes,
operators, predefined symbols
See MASM reference in Appendix A

Identifiers
1-247 characters, including digits
not case sensitive
first character must be a letter, _, @, ?, or $

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

Directives
Commands that are recognized and acted
upon by the assembler
Not part of the Intel instruction set
Used to declare code, data areas, select
memory model, declare procedures, etc.
not case sensitive

Different assemblers have different directives

NASM not the same as MASM, for example

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

Instructions

Assembled into machine code by assembler

Executed at runtime by the CPU
We use the Intel IA-32 instruction set
An instruction contains:

Label
Mnemonic
Operand
Comment

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

(optional)
(required)
(depends on the instruction)
(optional)

Labels
Act as place markers
marks the address (offset) of code and data

Follow identifer rules

Data label
must be unique
example: myArray

(not followed by colon)

Code label
target of jump and loop instructions
example: L1:
(followed by colon)

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Mnemonics and Operands

Instruction Mnemonics
memory aid
examples: MOV, ADD, SUB, MUL, INC, DEC

Operands

constant
constant expression
register
memory (data label)

Constants and constant expressions are often called

immediate values
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Comments
Comments are good!

explain the program's purpose

when it was written, and by whom
revision information
tricky coding techniques
application-specific explanations

Single-line comments
begin with semicolon (;)

Multi-line comments
begin with COMMENT directive and a programmerchosen character
end with the same programmer-chosen character
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Instruction Format Examples

No operands
stc

; set Carry flag

One operand
inc eax
inc myByte

; register
; memory

Two operands
add ebx,ecx
sub myByte,25
add eax,36 * 25

; register, register
; memory, constant
; register, constant-expression

Three operands
imul eax, ebx, 5

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

; EAX = EBX * 5
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What's Next

Basic Elements of Assembly Language

Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
Assembling, Linking, and Running Programs
Defining Data
Symbolic Constants
64-Bit Programming

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

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Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers

; AddTwo.asm adds two 32-bit integers
.386
.model flat,stdcall
.stack 4096
ExitProcess PROTO, dwExitCode:DWORD
.code
main PROC
mov eax,1000h
add eax,2000h

; move 1000 to the EAX register

; add 2000 to the EAX register

INVOKE ExitProcess,0
main ENDP
END main
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Example Output
Showing registers and flags in the debugger:
EAX=00030000

EBX=7FFDF000

ECX=00000101

EDX=FFFFFFFF

ESI=00000000

EDI=00000000

EBP=0012FFF0

ESP=0012FFC4

EIP=00401024

EFL=00000206

CF=0

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

SF=0

ZF=0

OF=0

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Suggested Coding Standards

(1 of 2)

Some approaches to capitalization

capitalize nothing
capitalize everything
capitalize all reserved words, including instruction
mnemonics and register names
capitalize only directives and operators

Other suggestions
descriptive identifier names
spaces surrounding arithmetic operators
blank lines between procedures

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Suggested Coding Standards

(2 of 2)

Indentation and spacing

code label and data labels no indentation

groups of executable instructions indent 4-5 spaces
comments: right side of page, aligned vertically
2-3 spaces between instruction and its operands
ex:
mov ax,bx

1 blank line between procedures

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Program Template
; Program Template
;
;
;
;
;

(Template.asm)

Program Description:
Author:
Creation Date:
Revisions:
Date:
Modified by:

.386
.model flat,stdcall
.stack 4096
ExitProcess PROTO, dwExitCode:DWORD
.data
; declare variables here
.code
main PROC
; write your code here
INVOKE ExitProcess,0
main ENDP
; (insert additional procedures here)
END main
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What's Next

Basic Elements of Assembly Language

Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
Assembling, Linking, and Running Programs
Defining Data
Symbolic Constants
64-Bit Programming

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

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Assemble-Link Execute Cycle

The following diagram describes the steps from creating a

source program through executing the compiled program.
If the source code is modified, Steps 2 through 4 must be
repeated.

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Listing File
Use it to see how your program is compiled
Contains

source code
addresses
object code (machine language)
segment names
symbols (variables, procedures, and constants)

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What's Next

Basic Elements of Assembly Language

Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
Assembling, Linking, and Running Programs
Defining Data
Symbolic Constants
64-Bit Programming

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Defining Data

Intrinsic Data Types

Data Definition Statement
Defining BYTE and SBYTE Data
Defining WORD and SWORD Data
Defining DWORD and SDWORD Data
Defining QWORD Data
Defining TBYTE Data
Defining Real Number Data
Little Endian Order
Adding Variables to the AddSub Program
Declaring Uninitialized Data

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Intrinsic Data Types (1 of 2)

BYTE, SBYTE
8-bit unsigned integer; 8-bit signed integer

WORD, SWORD
16-bit unsigned & signed integer

DWORD, SDWORD
32-bit unsigned & signed integer

QWORD
64-bit integer

TBYTE
80-bit integer

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Intrinsic Data Types (2 of 2)

REAL4
4-byte IEEE short real

REAL8
8-byte IEEE long real

REAL10
10-byte IEEE extended real

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Data Definition Statement

A data definition statement sets aside storage in memory for a variable.
May optionally assign a name (label) to the data

Syntax:

[name] directive initializer [,initializer] . . .

value1 BYTE 10

All initializers become binary data in memory

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Defining BYTE and SBYTE Data

Each of the following defines a single byte of storage:
value1
value2
value3
value4
value5
value6

BYTE 'A'
BYTE 0
BYTE 255
SBYTE -128
SBYTE +127
BYTE ?

;
;
;
;
;
;

character constant
smallest unsigned byte
largest unsigned byte
smallest signed byte
largest signed byte
uninitialized byte

01000001
00000000
11111111
10000000
01111111
????????

MASM does not prevent you from initializing a BYTE with a

negative value, but it's considered poor style.
If you declare a SBYTE variable, the Microsoft debugger will
automatically display its value in decimal with a leading sign.
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Defining Byte Arrays

Examples that use multiple initializers:
list1 BYTE 10,20,30,40

;00001010

0010100 00011110 00101000

list2 BYTE 10,20,30,40

BYTE 50,60,70,80
BYTE 81,82,83,84
list3 BYTE ?,32,41h,00100010b
list4 BYTE 0Ah,20h,A,22h

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Defining Strings

(1 of 3)

A string is implemented as an array of characters

For convenience, it is usually enclosed in quotation marks
It should normally be null-terminated

Examples:
str1 BYTE
str2 BYTE
str3 BYTE
greeting

"Enter your name",0

'Error: halting program',0
'A','E','I','O','U'
BYTE "Welcome to the Encryption Demo program "
BYTE "created by Kip Irvine.",0

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Defining Strings

(2 of 3)

To continue a single string across multiple lines, end

each line with a comma:
menu BYTE "Checking Account",0dh,0ah,0dh,0ah,
"1. Create a new account",0dh,0ah,
"2. Open an existing account",0dh,0ah,
"3. Credit the account",0dh,0ah,
"4. Debit the account",0dh,0ah,
"5. Exit",0ah,0ah,
"Choice> ",0

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Defining Strings

(3 of 3)

End-of-line character sequence:

0Dh = carriage return
0Ah = line feed
str1 BYTE "Enter your name:
",0Dh,0Ah
BYTE "Enter your address: ",0
newLine BYTE 0Dh,0Ah,0

Idea: Define all strings used by your program in the same

area of the data segment.

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Using the DUP Operator

Use DUP to allocate (create space for) an array or string.
Syntax:
[name] directive counter DUP ( argument )
Counter and argument must be constants or constant expressions

var1 BYTE 20 DUP(0)

; 20 bytes, all equal to zero

var2 BYTE 20 DUP(?)

; 20 bytes, uninitialized

var3 BYTE 4 DUP("STACK")

; 20 bytes: "STACKSTACKSTACKSTACK"

var4 BYTE 10,3 DUP(0),20

; 5 bytes -

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

00001010 000000000 000000000 00000000 00010100

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Defining WORD and SWORD Data

Define storage for 16-bit integers
or double characters
single value or multiple values
word1
word2
word3
word4
myList
array

WORD
SWORD
WORD
WORD
WORD
WORD

65535
32768
?
"AB"
1,2,3,4,5
5 DUP(?)

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

;
;
;
;
;
;

largest unsigned value 16 bits

smallest signed value
uninitialized, unsigned
double characters
- 16 bits
array of 5 words
- 80 bits
uninitialized array
- 80 bits

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Defining DWORD and SDWORD Data

Storage definitions for signed and unsigned 32-bit
integers:
val1
val2
val3
val4

DWORD
SDWORD
DWORD
SDWORD

12345678h
2147483648
20 DUP(?)
3,2,1,0,1

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

;
;
;
;

unsigned
signed
unsigned array
signed array

- 32 bits

- 640 bits
- 160 bits

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Defining QWORD, TBYTE, Real Data

Storage definitions for quadwords, tenbyte values,
and real numbers:
quad1 QWORD 1234567812345678h
val1 TBYTE 1000000000123456789Ah
rVal1 REAL4 -2.1
rVal2 REAL8 3.2E-260
rVal3 REAL10 4.6E+4096
ShortArray REAL4 20 DUP(0.0)

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

- 64 bits
- 80 bits
- 32 bits
- 64 bits
- 80 bits
- 640 bits

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Little Endian Order

All data types larger than a byte store their individual
bytes in reverse order. The least significant byte occurs
at the first (lowest) memory address.
Example:
val1 DWORD 12345678h

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Adding Variables to AddSub

TITLE Add and Subtract, Version 2
(AddSub2.asm)
; This program adds and subtracts 32-bit unsigned
; integers and stores the sum in a variable.
INCLUDE Irvine32.inc

; includes code/declarations/etc.

.data
val1 DWORD 10000h
val2 DWORD 40000h
val3 DWORD 20000h
finalVal DWORD ?
.code
main PROC
mov eax,val1
add eax,val2
sub eax,val3
mov finalVal,eax
call DumpRegs
exit

;
;
;
;
;
;

start with 10000h

add 40000h
subtract 20000h
store the result (30000h)
display the registers
predefined MS-Win function

main ENDP
END main
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Declaring Unitialized Data

Use the .data? directive to declare an uninitialized data
segment:
.data?

Within the segment, declare variables with "?" initializers:

.data?
smallArray DWORD 10 DUP(?)

Advantage: the program's EXE file size is reduced.

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

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What's Next

Basic Elements of Assembly Language

Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
Assembling, Linking, and Running Programs
Defining Data
Symbolic Constants
64-Bit Programming

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

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Symbolic Constants
Equate Directives take three basic forms:
symbol
symbol
symbol

=
expression
equ expression
textequ expression

Equal-Sign Directive
EQU Directive
TEXTEQU Directive

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Equal-Sign Directive
name = expression
expression is a 32-bit integer (expression or constant)
may be redefined
name is called a symbolic constant

good programming style - use symbols

COUNT = 500
.
.
mov ax,COUNT

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Calculating the Size of a BYTE Array

current location: $
subtract address of list
difference is the number of bytes

list BYTE 10,20,30,40

ListSize = ($ - list)

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Calculating the number of elements in a

WORD Array

Divide total number of bytes by 2 (the size of a word)

list WORD 1000h,2000h,3000h,4000h

ListSize = ($ - list) / 2

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Calculating the number of elements in a

DWORD Array
Divide total number of bytes by 4 (the size of a
doubleword)

list DWORD 1,2,3,4

ListSize = ($ - list) / 4

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EQU Directive
Define a symbol as either an integer or text expression.
Cannot be redefined
Format:
name EQU expression
; integer expression
name EQU symbol ; symbol already defined
name EQU < text >

PI EQU <3.1416>
pressKey EQU <"Press any key to continue...",0>
.data
prompt BYTE pressKey
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EQU Directive
The EQU directive provides almost a superset of
the capabilities of the "=" and TEXTEQU directives.
It allows operands that are numeric text or string
literal constants.
Example:
matrix1 EQU 10 * 10
matrix2 EQU <10 * 10>
...
m1 WORD matrix1 ; m1 WORD 100
m2 WORD matrix2 ; m2 WORD 10*10

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TEXTEQU Directive

Define a symbol as either an integer or text expression.

Called a text macro
Can be redefined

Format:

name TEXTEQU < text >

name TEXTEQU %constExpr

continueMsg TEXTEQU <"Do you wish to continue (Y/N)?">

rowSize = 5
.data
prompt1 BYTE continueMsg
count TEXTEQU %(rowSize * 2)

; evaluates the expression

setupAL TEXTEQU <mov al,count>

.code
setupAL
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

; generates: "mov al,10"

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What's Next

Basic Elements of Assembly Language

Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
Assembling, Linking, and Running Programs
Defining Data
Symbolic Constants
64-Bit Programming

Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 7/e, 2015.

51

64-Bit Programming
MASM supports 64-bit programming, although the
following directives are not permitted:
INVOKE, ADDR, .model, .386, .stack
(Other non-permitted directives will be introduced in
later chapters)

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64-Bit Version of AddTwoSum

1: ; AddTwoSum_64.asm - Chapter 3 example.
3: ExitProcess PROTO
5: .data
6: sum DWORD 0
8: .code
9: main PROC
10:
mov eax,5
11:
add eax,6
12:
mov sum,eax
13:
14:
mov ecx,0
15:
call ExitProcess
16: main ENDP
17: END

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Things to Notice About the Previous Slide

The following lines are not needed:
.386
.model flat,stdcall
.stack 4096

INVOKE is not supported.

CALL instruction cannot receive arguments
Use 64-bit registers when possible

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4C 61 46 69 6E

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