ASSEMBLY LANGUANGE

Introduction
 In Writing a program in assembly
language requires knowledge of the
computer’s instruction set, the rules of its
use, and the hardware on which it runs.
 An assembly language program consists
of one or more segments for defining
data and for machine instructions and a
segment named the stack that contains
stored addresses.
 We will utilize ROM (Read-only Memory), the
important feature of ROM in programming is its
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), RAM
(Random Access Memory) , its importance is
its availability as a “worksheet” for temporary
storage and execution of programs, and
Addressing Memory Locations, an assembly
language programmer has to distinguish
between the address of memory location and
its contents.
SEGMENTS

A segment is an area in memory that

begins on a paragraph boundary.
TYPES OF SEGMENTS

 Code Segment
 Data Segment
 Stack Segment
 Segment Boundaries
 Code Segment – the code segment
contains the machine instructions that
are to execute. Typically, the first
executable instruction is at the start of
this segment, and the operating system
links to this location for program
execution. The CS (code segment)
register addresses this segment.
 Data Segment – The data segment
contains a program’s defined data,
constants, and work areas. The DS
(data segment) register addresses this
segment.
 Stack Segment – the stack contains
any data addresses that you need to
save temporarily for your own “called”
subroutines to return to your main
program. The SS (stack segment)
register addresses this segment.
Segment Boundaries

 The segment registers contain the

starting address of each segment. Extra
segment registers are the ES.
Segment Boundaries
Segment Offsets
 All memory locations are relative to the start of
a segment. The distance in bytes is expressed
as an offset (or displacement) from the start of
a segment. For example: a two-byte (16-bit)
offset can range from hex 0000 through hex
FFFF or 0 through 65,535. Thus the first byte
of the code segment is at offset 00, the second
byte is at offset 01, and so forth, through to
offset 65,535.
REGISTERS

 The processor’s registers are used to

control instructions being executed, to
handle addressing of memory, and to
provide arithmetic capability. The
registers are addressable by name. Bits
are conventionally numbered from right
to left.
Segment Registers

A segment register is 16 bits long and

provides for addressing an area of
memory, known as the current segment.
CS register

 the code segment register contains the

initial address of a program’s code
segment. This address plus an offset
value in the instruction pointer (IP)
register indicates the address of an
instruction to be fetched for execution.
DS register

 the data segment register contains the

initial address of a program’s data
segment. In simple terms, this address
plus an offset value in an instruction
causes a reference to a specific byte
location in the data segment.
SS register
 thestack segment register permits
implementation of a stack in memory,
used for temporary storage of addresses
and data. The SS register contains the
starting address of the program’s stack
segment. This address plus an offset
value in the stack pointer (SP) register
indicates the current word in the stack
being addressed.
ES register

 Some string (character data) operations

use the extra segment register to handle
memory addressing. In his context, the
ES register is associated with the DI
register.
Instruction Pointer Register (IP)

 The 16-bit IP register contains the offset

address of the instruction that is to
execute next. The IP is associated with
the CS register such that the IP indicates
the current instruction within the
currently executing code segment.
POINTER REGISTER

 Thepointer registers, SP and BP, are

associated with the SS register and
permit the system to access data in the
stack segment.
SP register

 The 16-bith stack pointer is associated

with the SS register and provides an
offset value that refers to the current
word being processed in the stack.
BP register

 The 16-bit base pointer facilitates

referencing parameters, which are data
and addresses passed via the stack.
General Purpose Registers

 The AX, BX, CX and DX general-

purpose registers are the workhorses.
They are unique in that you can address
them as one word or as a one-byte
portion. The leftmost byte is the “high”
portion and the rightmost byte is the
“low” portion.
 For example, the CX register consists of
a CH and a CL portion, and you can
reference any of the three names.
 Thefollowing instructions move zeros to
the CX, CH, and CL respectively:

MOV CX, 00
MOV CH, 00
MOV CL, 00
AX register

 The AX register, the primary

accumulator, is used for operations
involving input/output and most
arithmetic.
BX register

 The BX is known as the base register

since it is the only general-purpose
register that can be used as an “index”
to extend addressing.
CX register

 TheCX is known as the count register. It

may contain a value to control the
number of times a loop is repeated or a
value to shift bits left or right.
DX register

 The DX is known as the date register.

Some input/output operations require its
use, and multiply and divided operations
that involve large values assume the DX
and AX pair.
INDEX REGISTER

 Theindex registers are available for

extended addressing and for use in
addition and subtraction.
SI register

 The 16-bit source index register is

required for some string (character)
operation. In this context, the SI is
associated with the DS register.
DI register

 The 16-bit destination index register is

also required for some string operations.
In this context, the DI is associated with
the ES register.
Flag Register
9 of the 16 bit of the flags register are
common to all 8086-family processors to
indicate the current status of the
machine and the results of execution.
 The FLAGS Register consists of 9 status
bits. These bits are also called flags,
because they can either be SET (1) or
NOT SET (0). All these flags have a
name and purpose.
Flag Register