Post #2072929

2026-02-09 21:23 UTC

i like writing assembly because it helps you realize that even when you do something really simple on a computer, like check if two numbers are equal, beneath the surface there&#39;s this old grandpa who&#39;s like &quot;well hold on there, let me just load this little feller into the accumulator&quot;

Replies (9)

@syllopsium@peoplemaking.games 2026-02-09 21:35

@aparrish@friend.camp 'You thought you could temporarily put that thing in here, and use it to go into that? Well y'see in 1968 we decided that DE was only for holding, not for memory moving. You'll be wanting BC'

Open ##2907495
@zl2tod@mastodon.online 2026-02-09 21:38

@aparrish@friend.camp The flags ! ... the flags ...

Open ##2907496
@EricLawton@kolektiva.social 2026-02-09 22:07

@aparrish@friend.camp I started with IBM 360 ASSEMBLER. 45 years later, I still remember little tricks like using address arithmetic when possible, instead of integer arithmetic, because it was a cycle or two faster.

Open ##2907497
@JohnLamp@aus.social 2026-02-09 22:28

@aparrish@friend.camp MOV A C - and the printer works! Thats what I'm talking about!

Open ##2907498
@drj@typo.social 2026-02-10 10:59

@aparrish@friend.camp i have been programming in assembly on the ZX81 recently (emulated), and i was thinking much the same. But also how it simultaneously makes me feel "hard" and "soft". Like "haha i am using this SBC A carry flag trick, no compiler would ever generated that" (it probably could tho), and also "oh no, i have no idea how many cycles an INC HL takes, and i have to look it up". Higher level languages are truly wondrous.

Open ##2907499
@TimWardCam@c.im 2026-02-10 11:02

@aparrish@friend.camp There was a time when I wouldn't interview candidates for a Visual Basic job if they didn't have assembler on their CV, if only as a few hours as a student. So that they would at least know what a computer was. It helps to at least be aware of the concept that two very similar looking lines of code in a "high level" language could have execution times differing by many orders of magnitude.

Open ##2907502
@PatternChaser@mas.to 2026-02-10 12:23

@aparrish@friend.camp When personal computers first emerged, in the late 70s and early 80s, assembly was all there was, as compilers were way too grown up for these tiny machines. Then we got clever assemblers, like PL/M, and so to Pascal and C...

Open ##2907503
@scribblesonnapkins@mastodon.social 2026-02-10 13:01

@aparrish@friend.camp Ah but that is x86 assembler. There are a lot of other architecures where you are less constrained. PowerPC was nice because you had way more registers and it was 3 address.

Open ##2907504
@th@social.v.st 2026-02-10 13:31

@aparrish@friend.camp when I was in elementary school I learned that the accumulator and ALU were loaded by lots of little robots

Open ##2907505