Assembly Language for x86 Processors
7th Edition
Kip Irvine
Chapter 1: Basic Concepts
Slides prepared by the author
Revised by Zuoliu Ding at Fullerton College, 07/2014
(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
• Welcome to Assembly Language
• Specific Machine Levels
• Data Representation
• Boolean Operations
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 2
What is Assembler?
xyz.c / xyz.cpp xyz.asm
Compiler (cl.exe) Assembler (ml.exe)
xyz.obj xyz.obj
Linker (link.exe) Linker (link.exe)
xyz.exe xyz.exe
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. Added by Zuoliu Ding 3
Assembly Language Applications
• Some representative types of applications:
• Business application for single platform
• Hardware device driver
• Business application for multiple platforms
• Embedded systems & computer games
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 4
Comparing ASM to High-Level Languages
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 5
What's Next
• Welcome to Assembly Language
• Specific Machine Levels
• Data Representation
• Boolean Operations
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 6
Translating Languages
English: Display the sum of A times B plus C.
C++: cout << (A * B + C);
one to many
Assembly Language: Intel Machine Language:
mov eax,A A1 00000000
mul B F7 25 00000004
add eax,C one to one
03 05 00000008
call WriteInt
E8 00500000
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 7
Specific Machine Levels
(descriptions of individual levels
follow . . . )
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 8
High-Level Language
• Level 4
• Application-oriented languages
• C++, Java, Pascal, Visual Basic . . .
• Programs compile into assembly language
(Level 3)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 9
Assembly Language
• Level 3
• Instruction mnemonics that have a one-to-
one correspondence to machine language
• Programs are translated into Instruction Set
Architecture Level - machine language
(Level 2)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 10
Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
• Level 2
• Also known as conventional machine
language
• Executed by Level 1 (Digital Logic)
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 11
Digital Logic
• Level 1
• CPU, constructed from digital logic gates
• System bus
• Memory
• Implemented using bipolar transistors
next: Data Representation
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 12
What's Next
• Welcome to Assembly Language
• Specific Machine Levels
• Data Representation
• Boolean Operations
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 13
Data Representation
• Binary Numbers
• Translating between binary and decimal
• Binary Addition
• Integer Storage Sizes
• Hexadecimal Integers
• Translating between decimal and hexadecimal
• Hexadecimal subtraction
• Signed Integers
• Binary subtraction
• Character Storage
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 14
Binary Numbers
• Digits are 1 and 0
• 1 = true
• 0 = false
• MSB – most significant bit
• LSB – least significant bit
• Bit numbering:
MSB LSB
1011001010011100
15 0
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 15
Binary Numbers
• Each digit (bit) is either 1 or 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
• Each bit represents a power of 2: 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
Every binary
number is a
sum of powers
of 2
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 16
Translating Binary to Decimal
Weighted positional notation shows how to calculate the
decimal value of each binary bit:
dec = (Dn-1 2n-1) + (Dn-2 2n-2) + ... + (D1 21) + (D0 20)
D = binary digit, 0 or 1
binary 00001001 = decimal 9:
(0 27)+(0 26)+(0 25)+(0 24)+(1 23)+(0 22)+(0 21)+ (1 20) = 9
0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 9
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 17
Translating Unsigned Decimal to Binary
• Repeatedly divide the decimal integer by 2. Each
remainder is a binary digit in the translated value:
37 = 100101
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 18
Binary Addition
• Starting with the LSB, add each pair of digits, include
the carry if present.
carry: 1
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 (4)
+ 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 (7)
0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 (11)
bit position: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 19
Integer Storage Sizes
byte 8
word 16
Standard sizes:
doubleword 32
quadword 64
What is the largest unsigned integer that may be stored in 20 bits? 1048475
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 20
Hexadecimal Integers
Binary values are represented in hexadecimal.
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 21
Translating Binary to Hexadecimal
• Each hexadecimal digit corresponds to 4 binary bits.
• Example: Translate the binary integer
101101010011110010100 to hexadecimal:
Try to separate: 0001,0110,1010,0111,1001,0100
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 22
Converting Hexadecimal to Decimal
• Multiply each digit by its corresponding power of 16:
dec = (D3 163) + (D2 162) + (D1 161) + (D0 160)
• Hex 1234 equals (1 163) + (2 162) + (3 161) + (4 160), or
decimal 4,660.
• Hex 3BA4 equals (3 163) + (11 162) + (10 161) + (4 160), or
decimal 15,268.
• Horner's rule: (((3 16) + 11) 16) + 10 ) 16) + 4
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 23
Powers of 16
Used when calculating hexadecimal values up to 8 digits
long:
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 24
Converting Decimal to Hexadecimal
decimal 422 = 1A6 hexadecimal
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 25
Hexadecimal Addition
• Divide the sum of two digits by the number base (16). The quotient
becomes the carry value, and the remainder is the sum digit.
1 1
36 28 28 6A
42 45 58 4B
78 6D 80 B5
21 / 16 = 1, rem 5
Important skill: Programmers frequently add and subtract the
addresses of variables and instructions.
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 26
Hexadecimal Subtraction
• When a borrow is required from the digit to the left, add 16
(decimal) to the current digit's value:
16 + 5 = 21
-1
C6 75
A2 47
24 2E
Practice: The address of var1 is 00400020. The address of the next
variable after var1 is 0040006A. How many bytes are used by var1?
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 27
Signed Integers
The highest bit indicates the sign. 1 = negative,
0 = positive
sign bit
What’s this? 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0
Negative -10
0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Positive +10
If the highest digit of a hexadecimal integer is > 7, the value is
negative. Eg. For byte 8A, C5, word A29D, dword B1234567
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 28
Forming the Two's Complement
• Negative numbers are stored in two's complement
notation
• Represents the additive Inverse
• Note that 00000001 + 11111111 = 00000000
• Two's Complement operation is reversible. Two's Complement of
11111111 is 00000001
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 29
Binary Subtraction
• When subtracting A – B, convert B to its two's
complement
• Add A to (–B)
00001100 00001100
– 00000011 +1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1
00001001 00001001
Practice: Subtract 0101 from 1001.
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 30
Learn How To Do the Following:
• Form 2's complement of a hexadecimal WORD: (-27197d)
• 6A3Dh 95C2h+1 95C3h
• Convert signed byte to decimal
• 11110000b -16d What if unsigned?
• Convert signed decimal to binary, byte
• -43d: (43d 00101011b, 11010100b+1) 11010101b
• Convert signed decimal to hexadecimal byte
• -43d D5h
• Convert signed hexadecimal byte to decimal
• D5h: (2Ah+1 = 2Bh) -43d
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. Added by Zuoliu Ding 31
Ranges of Signed Integers
The highest bit is reserved for the sign. This limits the range:
10000000
Why? - 01111111
Practice: What is the largest positive value that may be stored in 20 bits?
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 32
What's Next
• Welcome to Assembly Language
• Specific Machine Levels
• Data Representation
• Boolean Operations
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 33
Boolean Operations
• NOT
• AND
• OR
• Operator Precedence
• Truth Tables
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 34
Boolean Algebra
• Based on symbolic logic, designed by George Boole
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Boole
• Boolean expressions created from:
• NOT, AND, OR
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. 35
NOT
• Inverts (reverses) a boolean value
• Truth table for Boolean NOT operator:
Digital gate diagram for NOT:
NOT
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 36
AND
• Truth table for Boolean AND operator:
Digital gate diagram for AND:
AND
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 37
OR
• Truth table for Boolean OR operator:
Digital gate diagram for OR:
OR
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 38
Operator Precedence
• Examples showing the order of operations:
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 39
Truth Tables (1 of 3)
• A Boolean function has one or more Boolean inputs,
and returns a single Boolean output.
• A truth table shows all the inputs and outputs of a
Boolean function
Example: X Y
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 40
Truth Tables (2 of 3)
• Example: X Y
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 41
Truth Tables (3 of 3)
S
• Example: (Y S) (X S)
X
mux Z
Y
Two-input multiplexer
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 6/e, 2010. Added by Zuoliu Ding 42
Summary
• Assembly language helps you learn how software is
constructed at the lowest levels
• Assembly language has a one-to-one relationship
with machine language
• Each layer in a computer's architecture is an
abstraction of a machine
• layers can be hardware or software
• Boolean expressions are essential to the design of
computer hardware and software
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 43
The End
Irvine, Kip R. Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers 7/e, 2015. 44
