Category:Assembly: Difference between revisions

[[Category:Encyclopedia]]'''Assembly language''' (or just '''assembly'''; often abbreviated '''asm'''; sometimes called '''assembler''', although that more properly refers to the program that translates the assembly source into machine code) is a term used for a language which is as close to raw machine code as a language can get. Writing in assembly typically requires strict knowledge of the underlying hardware, which lends itself well to implementing [[wp:Firmware|firmware]] due to size and speed constraints.

Usually assemblyAssembly languages use textual "[[wp:mnemonicMnemonic|mnemonicmnemonics]]" instructions that correspond directly to binary machine code instructions (merely hiding details of bit-wise encoding[[wp:Opcode|opcodes]]),. exceptWriting forin ''macros'' which expand to multiple instructions, andassembly often givegives direct control over the overall layout of the assembled program on disk and in memory. Available instructions and codes are specific to the architecture being programmed on (although there are assemblers which provide an abstracted, non-architecture-specific language; the most notable oneof which is the [[wp:GNU Assembler|GNU Assembler]]). Assembly programs are typically loaded directly into a computer's memory and run from there. A software [[wp:Emulator|emulator]] can be used for testing purposes, or in the absence of hardware.