Thread: Assembly Programming

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    Assembly Programming

    I saw another post, and I was just wondering who here knows assembly. I don't really know it, although I am learning it right now, and it seems that almost everyone tries to avoid it if they can.

  2. #2
    muttski
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    I know the basics, havent done anything with it recently and dont plan to.

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    left crog... back when? incognito's Avatar
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    hey muttski , I have a question..why don't you register or post as a registered user?
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    I am more interested in doing calculator programming with it, than computer stuff.

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    Fingerstyle Guitarist taylorguitarman's Avatar
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    I know x86 assembly. Had to take it in college. It's a good idea to learn the basics of it but I wouldn't suggest making any large programs with it. It's good to know if you need to speed up a specific part of your program, but keep in mind that a good C compiler is better than an average assembly programmer.
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    I know Mainframe, PC/370, and PC Assembler. Big fan of it. Was there any specific question you had in mind?

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    i know a bit of x86 asm

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    Registered User dirkduck's Avatar
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    I know a bit of x86 assembly, but im not very good, still learning a lot.

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    we are learning 8086 assembly

  10. #10
    It's full of stars adrianxw's Avatar
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    I also have programmed a lot of assembler in the past, (when I started, there wasn't much choice on some platforms!), rarely use it these days. I avoid it, there are just too many maintenance problems.

    As has been said already, frequently people think that assmbler is always faster than a compiled language, and that, these days, is simply not true in most cases. Compiler writing is an art and the people that specialise in it use a lot of mathematical and logical tricks to generate assembler sequences that the average programmer would never have dreamt of. (Would you rather have the brakes on your car fixed by a pro or the kid up the road that tinkers with cars at the weekend?)

    I certainly believe a knowledge of assembler, and indeed, hardware function is useful, but I've met some long time serving professional programmers who have never understood what happens with their code, they compile it and run it - end of story.
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    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    ..but keep in mind that a good C compiler is better than an average assembly programmer

    I tend to disagree with that statement. True compilers have come a long way, but I've still looked at some of the asm that my compiler generates and at times it produces some odd combo of opcodes to do a very simple task. Or it uses to many movs, too many pushes, etc. Compilers are good, don't get me wrong, but they are not always better than the observant and diligent asm programmer.

    I only use assembly for sections of code, or for OS experiments. However, I'm not of the mind set that the compiler is always right because I've looked at my decompilations and profiles and they are not always what I'd expect. In those cases I insert specific asm into the code.

    But, in general, yes, compilers are very good. Are they always the best? No. Are asm programmers always the best? No. It's all a matter of balance.

    Granted most of this is a mute point with today's high level code and with the Windows OS. Very few, if any, will ever use assembler. But there is a huge debate ongoing about this very topic. I don't think that it will ever end or ever be proven one way or the other.

  12. #12
    Used Registerer jdinger's Avatar
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    Very few, if any, will ever use assembler
    I know of a handful of game development studios that use a fair amount of asm. Bohemia Interactive used asm to help speed-crucial parts of Operation FlashPoint and (if I'm not mistaken) TimeGate used some asm in the code for Kohan.

    Granted that's not the majority, but I think it speaks against asm being forsaken.

  13. #13
    Registered User Scourfish's Avatar
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    I knew assembly since I was 3. My first real experience with assembly was the large Legos that are 5 times size of normal legos.

  14. #14
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    I think that every programmer should know
    a little bit of assembly just to help with debugging.

  15. #15
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    Games will prob always have a need to use asm somewhere. But the majority of programmers out there are not game programmers. They are business programmers.

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