art_sands
Nov 27th, 2003, 08:10 AM
hi folks,
well, i've been using assembly for a year and a half, and here are some things that I think will interest newbies to assembly.
Swallow this: "Assembly is NOT AT ALL difficult."
It is those who haven't already experienced it that say it is difficult. As a matter of fact, VB looks extremely simple only because it has a great IDE. Also, VC++ makes C++/C very easy. When people say VB is simple, they are talking about the IDE and the environment that is making it simple for them, and not the language. If you consider programming VB or VC++ (makefiles and other stuff that you otherwise don't care about) without using the IDE, then you'll find VB (not C/C++) to be the ****tiest language ever to be created!
Take it from me, once you start ASM, you won't even feel like touching VB. You'll actually realize why C/C++ is the way it is and why it creates an ILLUSION of programming in C/C++ easier. This isn't supposed to mean that VB is not a good environment. It's the best RAD IDE ever produced.
With VB or VC++ the language controls what you can do and cannot. With asm YOU control what needs to be done or not.
Swallow this: "Learning computer architecture and other preliminaries before starting assembly is difficult. Assembly itself is NOT".
The smallest overhead that even a C program will generate is 2.4KB, while asm allows you to write in bytes! Simply saying that our executables become smaller is not the reason why you should use ASM.
Small executables occupy less space in memory, run on even the older systems without slowing things, and most importantly, since the microprocessor cache and instruction queue are extremely small, small code allows for more instructions to fit in without the overhead thus reducing the amount of microprocessor clock cycles being wasted on fetching data and instructions from memory, or core. That's exactly why asm programs are the fastest.
People have another argument: "A better algorithm in C, will outdo a slower one optimized in ASM." This is pure nonsense. You can do in asm anything that you can do in C. As a matter of fact, there are a zillion things that you can do in asm, but not even dream of in C. (Don't ask me for examples to try to disprove me, i won't show them. You learn asm and then you'll come to know yourself.)
For those who want to learn microprocessor architecture and asm, I have a few resources to share, and also I am writing a free online wiki book on 32-bit x86 asm at the http://board.win32asmcommunity.net.
You'll find Randy's (RANDALL HYDE) HLA stuff at webster extremely useful too. Here it is: http://webster.cs.ucr.edu/
Microsoft and Borland decided to shut asm and Bill G went even as far saying that "asm is my most favorite language but asm is the only language that will die." Well so sad for him, his predictions never come true. (Remember he said, "640K memory will be enough for every god damned application.") Such crap.
They are out to kill both linux and asm. And i'm sure they'll end up head over heels. MS don't waste your excellent efforts on suing others, instead make better products.
Regards,
Art
well, i've been using assembly for a year and a half, and here are some things that I think will interest newbies to assembly.
Swallow this: "Assembly is NOT AT ALL difficult."
It is those who haven't already experienced it that say it is difficult. As a matter of fact, VB looks extremely simple only because it has a great IDE. Also, VC++ makes C++/C very easy. When people say VB is simple, they are talking about the IDE and the environment that is making it simple for them, and not the language. If you consider programming VB or VC++ (makefiles and other stuff that you otherwise don't care about) without using the IDE, then you'll find VB (not C/C++) to be the ****tiest language ever to be created!
Take it from me, once you start ASM, you won't even feel like touching VB. You'll actually realize why C/C++ is the way it is and why it creates an ILLUSION of programming in C/C++ easier. This isn't supposed to mean that VB is not a good environment. It's the best RAD IDE ever produced.
With VB or VC++ the language controls what you can do and cannot. With asm YOU control what needs to be done or not.
Swallow this: "Learning computer architecture and other preliminaries before starting assembly is difficult. Assembly itself is NOT".
The smallest overhead that even a C program will generate is 2.4KB, while asm allows you to write in bytes! Simply saying that our executables become smaller is not the reason why you should use ASM.
Small executables occupy less space in memory, run on even the older systems without slowing things, and most importantly, since the microprocessor cache and instruction queue are extremely small, small code allows for more instructions to fit in without the overhead thus reducing the amount of microprocessor clock cycles being wasted on fetching data and instructions from memory, or core. That's exactly why asm programs are the fastest.
People have another argument: "A better algorithm in C, will outdo a slower one optimized in ASM." This is pure nonsense. You can do in asm anything that you can do in C. As a matter of fact, there are a zillion things that you can do in asm, but not even dream of in C. (Don't ask me for examples to try to disprove me, i won't show them. You learn asm and then you'll come to know yourself.)
For those who want to learn microprocessor architecture and asm, I have a few resources to share, and also I am writing a free online wiki book on 32-bit x86 asm at the http://board.win32asmcommunity.net.
You'll find Randy's (RANDALL HYDE) HLA stuff at webster extremely useful too. Here it is: http://webster.cs.ucr.edu/
Microsoft and Borland decided to shut asm and Bill G went even as far saying that "asm is my most favorite language but asm is the only language that will die." Well so sad for him, his predictions never come true. (Remember he said, "640K memory will be enough for every god damned application.") Such crap.
They are out to kill both linux and asm. And i'm sure they'll end up head over heels. MS don't waste your excellent efforts on suing others, instead make better products.
Regards,
Art