1. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6th Edition
Kip Irvine
Chapter 3: Assembly Language Fundamentals
Slides prepared by the author
Revision date: 2/15/2010
(c) Pearson Education, 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.

2. Directives and Instructions
Assembly language statements are either directives or instructions
Instructions are executable statements. They are translated by the assembler into machine instructions. Ex:
call MySub ;transfer of control
mov ax,5 ;data transfer
Directives tells the assembler how to generate machine code, allocate storage, or define segments. They do not execute at run time. Ex:
count BYTE 50 ;creates 1 byte
;of storage
;initialized to 50

3. A Template for Assembly Language Programs
TITLE Program Template (Template.asm)
; Program Description: anything after the ‘;’ is ignored
; Author:
; Creation Date:
; Revisions:
; Date: Modified by:
INCLUDE Irvine32.inc ; contains library procedures for IA-32
; for 32-bit protected mode programs
.data ; data segment, read and write
; (insert variable declarations here)
.code ; code segment, read-only
main PROC
; (insert executable instructions here)
exit
main ENDP
; (insert additional procedures here)
END main
This is the template to follow in all your programs
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

4. A Template for ASM if Irvine32.inc is not Included
Irvine32.inc: library procedures and setup information for IA-32
.386: identifies as required processor. Use .586 for Pentium.
.model: set the running mode to 32-bit protected mode and use the MS-Windows calling convention
main PROC: label of the entry point of the program
first instruction to execute
END: marks the end of the program and identifies the program’s startup procedure
exit: macro that halts the program then returns the control to the caller (here the Win32 console)
.data and .code: beginning of the data segment and code segment
.386
.model flat, stdcall
.stack 4096
ExitProcess PROTO, dwExitCode: DWORD
DumpRegs PROTO
.data
;data declarations
.code
main PROC
… ;instructions here
call DumpRegs
INVOKE ExitProcess, 0
main ENDP
END main

5. The FLAT Memory Model
The .model flat directive tells the assembler to generate code that will run in protected mode and in 32-bit mode
Also ask the assembler to do whatever is needed in order that code, stack, and data share the same 32-bit memory segment
All the segment registers will be loaded with the correct values at load time and do not need to be changed by the programmer
Only the offset part of a logical address becomes relevant
Each data byte (or instruction) is referred to only by a 32-bit offset address
The directives .code and .data mark the beginning of the code and data segments. They are used only for protection
.code is read-only
.data is read and write

6. Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
TITLE Add and Subtract (AddSub.asm)
; This program adds and subtracts 32-bit integers.
INCLUDE Irvine32.inc
.code
main PROC
mov eax,10000h ; EAX = 10000h
add eax,40000h ; EAX = 50000h
sub eax,20000h ; EAX = 30000h
call DumpRegs ; display registers
exit
main ENDP
END main
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

7. Assemble-Link Execute Cycle (Steps to Produce an Executable File)
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. All 4 steps performed via the Visual Studio environment. No need to use command lines in a window.
See Getting started with MASM and Visual Studio 2012 at for instruction on assembling, linking and running ASM programs using Microsoft Visual Studio
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

8. 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)
Example: addSub.lst
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

9. Map File Information about each program segment:
starting address
ending address
size
segment type
Example: addSub.map (16-bit version)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

10. Integer Constants Optional leading + or – sign
binary, decimal, hexadecimal, or octal digits
Common radix characters:
h – hexadecimal 1011h
q/o – octal 1011q or 1011o
d – decimal 1011d or 1011 (base 10 is the default)
b – binary 1011b
r – encoded real 3F800000r = +1.0 (topic of Chap 12)
real E5+05 , 2. , +3.0 , …
More examples: 30d, 6Ah, -42, 1101b
Hexadecimal beginning with letter: 0A5h
A5h is not a number (must start with digit 0)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

11. 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‘ , “123” (this is a string, not a number)
Each character occupies a single byte
Embedded quotes:
'Say "Goodnight," Gracie'
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

12. 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 are programmer-chosen names
Variable, constant, procedure, code label
1 to 247 characters, including digits
not case sensitive
first character must be a letter, ?, or $
Cannot be the same as an assembler reserved word
Avoid using as first character since many keywords start with it.
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

13. Directives
Commands that are recognized and acted upon by the assembler
Not part of the Intel instruction set; but used by the assembler (i.e. the compiler) to direct the OS to perform certain tasks.
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 6/e, 2010.

14. Instructions Assembled into machine code by assembler
Executed at runtime by the CPU
We use the Intel IA-32 instruction set
Always INCLUDE Irvine32.inc in your programs
An instruction contains:
Label (optional)
Mnemonic (required)
Operand (depends on the instruction)
Comment (optional)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

15. 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
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

16. Instruction Format Examples
No operands
stc ; set Carry flag
One operand
inc eax ; register
dec myByte ; memory
Two operands (there are also 3-operand instructions, but they are rare)
add ebx, ecx ; register, register
sub myByte, 25 ; memory, constant
add eax, 36 * 25 ; register, constant-expression
All instructions are in the .code segment of programs
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

17. Example: Adding and Subtracting Integers
TITLE Add and Subtract (AddSub.asm)
; This program adds and subtracts 32-bit integers.
INCLUDE Irvine32.inc
.code
main PROC
mov eax,10000h ; EAX = 10000h
add eax,40000h ; EAX = 50000h
sub eax,20000h ; EAX = 30000h
call DumpRegs ; display content of registers
exit
main ENDP
END main
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

18. Program output, showing registers and flags:
Example Output
Program output, showing registers and flags:
EAX= EBX=7FFDF000 ECX= EDX=FFFFFFFF
ESI= EDI= EBP=0012FFF0 ESP=0012FFC4
EIP= EFL= CF=0 SF=0 ZF=0 OF=0
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

19. Suggested Coding Standards
Indentation and spacing
code and data labels – no indentation
executable instructions – indent 4-5 spaces
comments: right side of page, aligned vertically
1-3 spaces between instruction and its operands
ex: mov ax, bx
1-2 blank lines between procedures
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

20. Alternative Version of AddSub (If not including Irvine32.inc)
TITLE Add and Subtract (AddSubAlt.asm)
; This program adds and subtracts 32-bit integers.
.386
.MODEL flat,stdcall
.STACK 4096
ExitProcess PROTO, dwExitCode:DWORD
DumpRegs PROTO
.code
main PROC
mov eax,10000h ; EAX = 10000h
add eax,40000h ; EAX = 50000h
sub eax,20000h ; EAX = 30000h
call DumpRegs
INVOKE ExitProcess,0
main ENDP
END main
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

21. Data Definition Statement
A data definition statement declares a variable and allocates memory for the variable. The allocation directive defines the type of the variable.
May optionally assign a name (label) to the data
Syntax:
[name] directive initializer [,initializer]
var1 BYTE 10 var2 SWORD AFh, ?, -2, +7, 0BC9h
All initializers become binary data in memory
All variable declarations are in the .data segment of programs
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

22. Defining BYTE and SBYTE Data
8-bit unsigned integer and 8-bit signed integer type
Each of the following defines a single byte of storage:
value1 BYTE 'A' ; character constant
value2 BYTE 0 ; smallest unsigned byte
value3 BYTE 255 ; largest unsigned byte
value4 SBYTE -128 ; smallest signed byte
value5 SBYTE +127 ; largest signed byte
value6 BYTE ? ; uninitialized byte
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.
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

23. Defining [S]Byte Arrays
Examples that use multiple initializers:
A question mark (?) in the initializer leaves the initial value of the variable undefined. Ex: c SBYTE ? ; c is undefined
list1 BYTE 10,20,30,40
list2 BYTE 10,20,30,40
BYTE 50,60,70,80
BYTE 81,82,83,84
list3 BYTE ?,32,41h, b
list4 BYTE 0Ah,20h,‘A’,22h
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

24. Defining Strings (1 of 3)
A string is implemented as an array of characters
For convenience, it is usually enclosed in quotation marks
It often will be null-terminated
Character type is BYTE
Examples:
str1 BYTE "Enter your name",0
str2 BYTE 'Error: halting program',0
str3 BYTE 'A','E','I','O','U‘
greeting BYTE "Welcome to the Encryption Demo program "
BYTE "created by Kip Irvine.",0
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

25. 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
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

26. Defining Strings (3 of 3) End-of-line character sequence:
0Dh = carriage return
0Ah = line feed
Line continuation character (\)
Concatenates two source code lines into a single statement
greeting1 BYTE “Welcome to the Encryption Demo Program”,0
greeting1 \
BYTE “Welcome to the Encryption Demo Program”,0
str1 BYTE "Enter your name: ",0Dh,0Ah
BYTE "Enter your address: ",0
newLine BYTE 0Dh,0Ah,0
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

27. Using the DUP Operator
Use DUP to allocate (create space for) an array of any type or for a string.
Syntax: [var_name] TYPE counter DUP ( argument )
Counter and argument must be constants or constant expressions. DUP must be used only with data allocation directives.
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
Var5 BYTE 2 DUP( ‘a’ , 2 DUP ( ‘b’ ) ) ; 6 bytes : ‘abbabb’
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

28. Defining WORD and SWORD Data
16-bit unsigned & signed integer type
Define storage for 16-bit integers
or double characters
single value or multiple values
word1 WORD ; largest unsigned value
word2 SWORD –32768 ; smallest signed value
word3 WORD ? ; uninitialized, unsigned
word4 WORD "AB" ; double characters
myList WORD 1,2,3,4,5 ; array of words
array WORD 5 DUP(?) ; uninitialized array
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

29. Defining DWORD and SDWORD Data
32-bit unsigned & signed integer type
Storage definitions for signed and unsigned 32-bit integers:
val1 DWORD h ; unsigned
val2 SDWORD – ; signed
val3 DWORD 20 DUP(?) ; unsigned array
val4 SDWORD –3,–2,–1,0,1 ; signed array
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

30. Defining QWORD, TBYTE, Real Data
64-bit integer, 80-bit integer, and real types
Storage definitions for quadwords, tenbyte values, and real numbers:
quad1 QWORD h
val1 TBYTE Ah
rVal1 REAL ; 4-byte single-precision
rVal2 REAL8 3.2E ; 8-byte double-precision
rVal3 REAL10 4.6E ; 10-byte extended precision
ShortArray REAL4 20 DUP(0.0)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

31. Offset Address of Variables and Data
The optional variable name is a label marking its address in the data segment.
The (offset) address of a variable is the address of its first byte.
Ex: If the following data segment starts at address 0.
.data
Var1 BYTE “ABC”
Var2 BYTE “DEFG”
The address of Var1 is 0 = the address of ‘A’
The address of ‘B’ is 1
The address of ‘C’ is 2
The address of Var2 is 3
The address of ‘E’ is 4 …

32. 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 h
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

33. Little Endian Order Ex: A WORD 1234h, 5678h ; allocates 2 words
Intel’s x86 are little endian processors: the lowest order byte (of a word or double word) is always stored at the lowest address.
Ex: if variable A (above) is located at address 0, we have:
address:
value: 34h 12h 78h 56h

34. Little Endian Order Ex: B DWORD 12345678h ;allocates 1 double word
If variable B is located at address of 0, we have:
address:
value: 78h 56h 34h 12h
If a value fits into a byte, it will be stored in the lowest ordered byte available. Ex: V WORD ‘A’
the value will be stored as:
address: 0 1
value: 41h 00h

35. Legacy Data Directives
Legacy data directives are also supported by NASM and TASM.
Var1 DB ; 8-bit integer type (signed or unsigned)
Var2 DW ; 16-bit integer type (signed or unsigned)
Var3 DD 1.2 ; 32-bit integer/real (signed or unsigned)
Var4 DQ 3.2E-260 ; 64-bit integer/real (signed or unsigned)
Var5 DT 4.6E+4096 ; 80-bit integer/real (signed or unsigned)
The Legacy Data Directives do not distinguish between signed or unsigned data

36. Adding Variables to AddSub
TITLE Add and Subtract, Version (AddSub2.asm)
; This program adds and subtracts 32-bit unsigned
; integers and stores the sum in a variable.
INCLUDE Irvine32.inc
.data
val1 DWORD 10000h
val2 DWORD 40000h
val3 DWORD 20000h
finalVal DWORD ?
.code
main PROC
mov eax,val1 ; start with 10000h
add eax,val2 ; add 40000h
sub eax,val3 ; subtract 20000h
mov finalVal,eax ; store the result (30000h)
call DumpRegs ; display the registers
exit
main ENDP
END main
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

37. Equal-Sign Directive name = integer expression
expression is a 32-bit integer (expression or constant)
may be redefined
name is called a symbolic constant
No memory is allocated for a constant
ASM substitutes name with value (of expression) in each occurrence of name
good programming style to use symbols
Good for DUP
COUNT = ; this is a constant, not a variable
mov ax, COUNT ; AX ← 500
A = (-3 * 8) + 2
B = (A+2)/ ; constants can be defined in terms of another constants
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

38. Calculating the Size of a Word Array
Divide total number of bytes by 2 (the size of a word)
The $ operator (current location counter) returns the offset associated with the current program statement
The constant must follow immediately after the array whose size you want to calculate
Works for any type: BYTE, DWORD, QWORD, … etc
list WORD 1000h,2000h,3000h,4000h
ListSize = ($ - list) / 2 ; ListSize is a constant
; evaluated at runtime
Difference ($ - list) is the number of bytes
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

39. EQU Directive Define a symbol as either an integer or text expression.
Cannot be redefined
PI EQU <3.1416> ; text expression
Mat1 EQU 10 * 10 ; integer expression
Mat2 EQU <10*10> ; text expression
pressKey EQU <"Press any key to continue...",0>
.data
prompt BYTE pressKey ; prompt ← “Press any …”,0 “
M1 WORD Mat1 ; M1 WORD 100
M2 WORD Mat2 ; M2 WORD 10 * 10
P REAL4 PI ; P REAL
Text must be enclosed with <...>
(useful for real value)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

40. TEXTEQU Directive
Define a symbol as either an integer or text expression.
Called a text macro
Can be redefined at any time
continueMsg TEXTEQU <"Do you wish to continue (Y/N)?">
rowSize = 5
.data
prompt1 BYTE continueMsg ; assigns the content of a textmacro
count TEXTEQU %(rowSize * 2) ; evaluates the integer expression
setupAL TEXTEQU <mov al,count> ; assigns text
.code
setupAL ; generates: "mov al,10"
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

41. Exercise 1 Suppose that the following data segment starts at address 0
A WORD 1,2
B WORD 6ABCh
Z EQU 232
C BYTE 'ABCD'
A) Find the address of variable A.
B) Find the address of variable B.
C) Find the address of variable C.
D) Find the address of character ‘C’.

42. 4C E
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

43. Real-Address Mode Programming (1 of 2)
Generate 16-bit MS-DOS Programs
Advantages
enables calling of MS-DOS and BIOS functions
no memory access restrictions
Disadvantages
must be aware of both segments and offsets
cannot call Win32 functions (Windows 95 onward)
limited to 640K program memory
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

44. Real-Address Mode Programming (2 of 2)
Requirements
INCLUDE Irvine16.inc
Initialize DS to the data segment:
mov
mov ds,ax
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

45. Add and Subtract, 16-Bit Version
TITLE Add and Subtract, Version (AddSub2r.asm)
INCLUDE Irvine16.inc
.data
val1 DWORD 10000h
val2 DWORD 40000h
val3 DWORD 20000h
finalVal DWORD ?
.code
main PROC
mov ; initialize DS
mov ds,ax
mov eax,val1 ; get first value
add eax,val2 ; add second value
sub eax,val3 ; subtract third value
mov finalVal,eax ; store the result
call DumpRegs ; display registers
exit
main ENDP
END main
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

46. Summary Integer expression, character constant
directive – interpreted by the assembler
instruction – executes at runtime
code, data, and stack segments
source, listing, object, map, executable files
Data definition directives:
BYTE, SBYTE, WORD, SWORD, DWORD, SDWORD, QWORD, TBYTE, REAL4, REAL8, and REAL10
DUP operator, location counter ($)
Symbolic constant
EQU and TEXTEQU
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.

47. 4C E
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for x86 Processors 6/e, 2010.