Hey all. I have a goal to learn assembly language. Does anyone know of any good tutorials? Or does anyone know of any good assemblers? Does anyone have any tips? I currently have a PDF on my computer about assembly, its about 1300 pages long, 24 chapters, and I think it''s called x86 Assembly Tutorial or something. I don''t know where I got it, but if anyone knows what this is, could you tell me if it''s any good. Thanks! .elendil67

I''m not experienced with Intel/Win-assembly, but I recognize assembly languages to be universal in the sence that what differs is the instruction set, the hardware, and the OS API (which is not related to the language anyway).

What you need to get started in would be this:

- An assembler
- The processor''s reference manual
- Possibly reference manual for the other hardware
- Some tutorials that ties the above together.

So, you should do this for Intel/Windows:

- Look for NASM or MASM, which I think is the assemblers poeple use.
- Head for developer.intel.com and download all those huge reference manuals for their processors (you''ll need them).
- I think there are some tuts here on GameDev. A good one might be the Tetris in assembly/Win32, which you''ll find in the featured atricles section.

Then there is of course common knowledge you need to have, for any platform. Good understanding of how processors and computers work in general, binary arithmetic, how memory works, and all the somewhat special common programming techniques you need to use in assmebly languages.

I also have started browsing the net to find assembly resources. I found alot of good stuff. I also have made a great # of dl''s. (Now I just gotta read it all) Any way you may want to check out these books and sites. I have started with them and they both seem pretty good.
Books:
Art of Assembly (find it online in pdf) (HLA)
(I also have another really good book in pdf, divided into about 24 chapters, unfortunately i forgot where I got it and cant find the name of it in the text. Doh! (it may be the one you have, the forward is "Why would anyone learn this stuff". But if its not let me know if you want a copy (BillEVP@optonline.net) and i find a way to get it to you, it''s quite good.

Website:
http://webster.cs.ucr.edu
Here you can get MASM and alot of other assembly stuff.

MASM32(www.movsd.com/masm.htm) is a great free assembler for win32. If you need some tutorials check NeHe's site, some have MASM ports. This may be to advanced tough if your new to programming.

**EDIT**
The book your looking for is at
http://webster.cs.ucr.edu/Page_asm/0_ArtOfAsm.html

[edited by - SCET on August 18, 2002 11:37:08 PM]

Fasm (fasm.sf.net) is also a great assembler for both dos, win32 and linux (Open source, and can compile itself ). The best place to start win32 assembly (that''s what you want, ryt?) is win32asm.cjb.net. It contains lots of tutorials on win32 assembly programming with Masm and board.win32asmcommunity.net is a great place to get your questions answered quickly .

If you have more questions, you know where to reach me

Thanks guys. Hehe, Natix: I could post an assembly question anywhere on the web and within a couple hours see a reply by you . Yes, McCoy, that is the book I have. I was just wondering whether or not it is worth my time reading it because it seems that no one ever talks about it. Herm... can''t seem to find it.

Does anyone else like this FASM? According to Natix, it''s great. It sounds like it is, too. I''ll check out those sites!

.elendil67

Art of Assembly 16-bit/Dos version is the best reading on assembly you can find on the internet. It teaches you the basics of asm and almost everything is applicable to win32 asm (no more interrupts and near/far problems :D) Personally, I find Fasm much better than Masm, but it''s still in beta so there''s not much include files and definition files for it (Masm is better in this area, because it has been around for a LONG time, which is sadly why it''s still the most used). If by any chance someone here decides to use Fasm, I already converted the OpenGL header files and started converting Nehe''s tutorials and I''d be glad to give a download link . The DDraw header has already been converted too, if anyone wants to make a 2D game.