Department of Electrical and computer Engineering

College of Engineering and Technology

Jimma University

CHAPTER 4.1
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING OF 8086
PROCESSOR
MACHINE/ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE
 Machine Language:
 Setof fundamental instructions the machine can
execute
 Expressed as a pattern of 1’s and 0’s
 Assembly Language:
 Alphanumericequivalent of machine language
 Mnemonics more human-oriented than 1’s and 0’s
 Assembler:
 Computer program that transliterates (one-to-one
mapping) assembly to machine language
 Computer’s native language is machine language
 WHY ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE
PROGRAMMING
 Learning assembly language programming will
help understanding the operations of the
microprocessor
 Faster and shorter programs.
 Compilers do not always generate optimum code.
 Small controllers embedded in many
products
 Have specialized functions,
 Rely so heavily on input/output functionality,
 Game developers

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 EXAMPLE ASSEMBLER
 MASM
 Microsoft : Macro Assembler
 TASM
 Borland : Turbo Assembler
 NASM
 Library
General Public License (LGPL) [Free] :
Netwide Assembler
 Flat Assembler, SpAssembler
 Etc.
 OUR FIRST HELLO WORLD
PROGRAM
.model small
.stack 100h
.data
message db 'Hello World', 13, 10, '$'
.code
start:
mov ax, @data
mov ds, ax
mov dx, offset message ; copy address of message to dx
mov ah, 9h ; string output
int 21h ; display string
mov ax, 4c00h
int 21h
end start
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 PROGRAM STRUCTURE: AN
EXAMPLE
TITLE PRGM1
.MODEL SMALL
.STACK 100H
.DATA
A DW 2
B DW 5
SUM DW ?
.CODE
MAIN PROC
; initialize DS
MOV AX, @DATA
MOV DS, AX
 PROGRAM STRUCTURE: AN
EXAMPLE
; add the numbers
MOV AX, A
ADD AX, B
MOV SUM, AX
; exit to DOS
MOV AX, 4C00H
INT 21H
MAIN ENDP
END MAIN
 ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS SYNTAX
 An instruction is a statement that becomes executable
when a program is assembled.
 Assembled into machine code by assembler
 An instruction contains:
 Label (optional)
 Mnemonic (required)
 Operand (depends on the instruction)
 Comment (optional)
 Basic syntax
[label:] mnemonic [operands] [ ; comment]
Eg
 Start: mov ax,bx ; this instru…
 LABELS
 Act as place markers
 marks the address (offset) of code and data
 Follow identifier rules
 Data label
 mustbe unique
 example: myArray (not followed by colon)
 count DWORD 100
 Code label
 target
of jump and loop instructions
 example: L1: (followed by colon)
target:
mov ax, bx
…
jmp target

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MNEMONICS AND OPERANDS
 Instruction Mnemonics
 memory aid
 examples: MOV, ADD, SUB, MUL, INC, DEC
 Operands
 constant 96
 constant expression 2 + 4
 register ax
 memory (data label) count

Constants and constant expressions are

often called immediate values
 MNEMONICS AND OPERANDS
EXAMPLES

•One operand mnemonics

• E.g.
• stc ; set Carry flag
•One operand mnemonics
• inc ax ; add 1 to AX
•Two operand mnemonics
• Mov count, bx ; move BX to
count

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 COMMENTS
 Comments are good!
explain the program's purpose
when it was written, and by whom
revision information
tricky coding techniques
application-specific explanations
 Single-line comments
begin with semicolon (;)
 ELEMENTS OF ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE PROGRAM
 .model small
 .stack 100h
 .data
 message db 'Hello World', 13, 10, '$'
 .code
 main proc
 mov ax, @data
 mov ds, ax
 mov dx, offset message ; copy address of message to dx
 mov ah, 9h ; string output
 int 21h ; display string
 mov ax, 4c00h
 int 21h
 main endp
 end main
 DIRECTIVES
 Commands that are recognized and acted
upon by the assembler
 Not part of the instruction set
 Used to declare code, data areas, select memory
model, declare procedures, etc.
 not case sensitive
 Different assemblers have different directives
 NASM not the same as MASM, for example
DIRECTIVES: NAMED CONSTANTS
 EQU pseudo-op used to assign a name to
constant.
 Makes assembly language easier to
understand.
 No memory allocated for EQU names.
 LF EQU 0AH
 MOV DL, 0AH
 MOV DL, LF
 PROMPT EQU “Type your name”
 MSG DB “Type your name”
 MDG DB PROMPT
 DUP OPERATOR
 Used to define arrays whose elements share
common initial value.
 It has the form: repeat_count DUP (value)
 Numbers DB 100 DUP(0)
 Allocates an array of 100 bytes, each initialized to
0.
 Names DW 200 DUP(?)
 Allocates an array of 200 uninitialized words.
 Two equivalent definitions
 Line DB 5, 4, 3 DUP(2, 3 DUP(0), 1)
 Line DB 5, 4, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1
 USING THE DUP OPERATOR
 Use DUP to allocate (create space for) an array
or string. Syntax: counter DUP ( argument )
 Counter and argument must be constants or
constant expressions
var1 BYTE 20 DUP(0) ; 20 bytes, all equal to zero
var2 BYTE 20 DUP(?) ; 20 bytes, uninitialized
var3 BYTE 4 DUP("STACK") ; 20 bytes: "STACKSTACKSTACKSTACK"
var4 BYTE 10,3 DUP(0),20 ; 5 bytes

var4 10
0
0
0
20
 PTR OPERATOR
 Used to override declared type of an address
expression.
 Examples:
 MOV [BX], 1 illegal, there is
ambiguity
 MOV Bye PTR [BX], 1 legal
 MOV WORD PTR [BX], 1 legal
 Let j be defined as follows
j DW 10
 MOV AL, j illegal
 MOV AL, Byte PTR J legal
 IDENTIFIERS
 Identifiers
 Programmer-chosen name to identify a variable, constant,
procedure, or code label
 1-247 characters, including digits
 not case sensitive
 first character must be a letter, _, @, ?, or $
 Subsequent characters may also be digits
 Cannot be the same as a reserved word
 @ is used by assembler as a prefix for predefined symbols,
so avoid it identifiers
 Examples
 Var1,
Count, $first, _main, MAX, open_file, myFile, xVal,
_12345
 RESERVED WORDS
 Reserved words cannot be used as identifiers
 Instruction mnemonics
 MOV, ADD, MUL,, …
 Register names
 Directives – tells MASM how to assemble programs
 type attributes – provides size and usage information
 BYTE, WORD
 Operators – used in constant expressions
 predefined symbols – @data
DATA DEFINITION STATEMENT
 A data definition statement sets aside storage in memory for a
variable.
 May optionally assign a name (label) to the data
 Syntax:
[name] directive initializer [,initializer] . . .

value1 BYTE 10

 All initializers become binary data in memory

 VARIABLE DECLARATION
 Each variable has a type and assigned a
memory address.
 Data-defining pseudo-ops
 DB define byte
 DW define word
 DD define double word (two consecutive words)
 DQ define quad word (four consecutive words)
 DT define ten bytes (five consecutive words)
 Each pseudo-op can be used to define one or
more data items of given type.
 BYTE VARIABLES
 Assembler directive format defining a byte
variable
 name DB initial value
 a question mark (“?”) place in initial value leaves
variable uninitialized
 I DB 4 define variable I with initial value 4
 J DB ? Define variable J with uninitialized
value
 Name DB “Course” allocate 6 bytes for
K
Name 05
03
 K DB 5, 3, -1 allocates 3 bytes
FF
 Offset Value
DEFINING BYTE ARRAYS list1 0000 10
0001 20
0002 30
Examples that use
0003 40
multiple initializers:
list2 0004 10
list1 BYTE 10,20,30,40 0005 20
list2 BYTE 10,20,30,40 0006 30
BYTE 50,60,70,80 0007 40
BYTE 81,82,83,84 0008 50
list3 BYTE ?,32,41h,00100010b 0009 60
list4 BYTE 0Ah,20h,‘A’,22h 000A 70
000B 80
000C 81
000D 82
000E 83
000F 84
list3 0010
 WORD VARIABLES
 Assembler directive format defining a word
variable I 04
 name DWinitial value 00
 I DW 4 FE
J
FF
 J DW -2
K BC
1A
 K DW 1ABCH
L 31
30
 L DW “01”
 CHARACTER AND STRING
CONSTANTS
 Enclose character in single or double quotes
 'A',
"x"
 ASCII character = 1 byte
 Enclose strings in single or double quotes
 "ABC"
 'xyz'
 Each character occupies a single byte
 Embedded quotes:
 'Say "Goodnight," Gracie'
 DEFINING STRINGS
 A string is implemented as an array of characters
 For convenience, it is usually enclosed in quotation marks
 It often will be null-terminated (ending with ,0)

 Examples:

str1 BYTE "Enter your name",0

str2 BYTE 'Error: halting program',0
str3 BYTE 'A','E','I','O','U'
greeting BYTE "Welcome to the Encryption Demo program "
 DEFINING STRINGS
 End-of-line character sequence:
 0Dh = carriage return
 0Ah = line feed

str1 BYTE "Enter your name: ",0Dh,0Ah

BYTE "Enter your address: ",0

newLine BYTE 0Dh,0Ah,0

Idea: Define all strings used by your program in the same area of
the data segment.

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 INPUT AND OUTPUT
 CPU communicates with peripherals through I/O
registers called I/O ports.
 Two instructions access I/O ports directly: IN and OUT.
 Used when fast I/O is essential, e.g. games.
 Most programs do not use IN/OUT instructions
 portaddresses vary among computer models
 much easier to program I/O with service routines provided
by manufacturer
 Two categories of I/O service routines
 Basic input/output system (BIOS) routines
 Disk operating system (DOS) routines
 DOS and BIOS routines invoked by INT (interrupt)
instruction.
 SYSTEM BIOS
 A set of programs always present in system
 BIOS routines most primitive in a computer
 Talksdirectly to system hardware
 Hardware specific - must know exact port
address and control bit configuration for I/O
devices
 BIOS supplied by computer manufacturer and
resides in ROM
 Provides services to O.S. or application
 Enables O.S. to be written to a standard
interface
SOFTWARE LAYERS
System Hardware

Non-standard interface

BIOS

Standard interface

Operating System

Standard interface

Application Program
 INPUT/OUTPUT - CONT.
 INT 21H used to invoke a large number of
DOS function.
 Type of called function specified by putting a
number in AH register.
 AH=1 single-key input with echo
 AH=2 single-character output
 AH=9 character string output
 AH=8 single-key input without echo
 AH=0Ah character string input
DISPLAYING A SINGLE
CHARACTER

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 SINGLE-CHARACTER OUTPUT
 Input: AH=2, DL= ASCII code of character to be
output
 Output: AL=ASCII code of character
 To display a character
 MOV AH, 2
 MOV DL, ‘?’ ; displaying character ‘?’
 INT 21H
 To read a character and display it
 MOV AH, 1
 INT 21H
 MOV AH, 2
 MOV DL, AL
 INT 21H
37
 SINGLE-KEY INPUT
 Input: AH=1
 Output: AL= ASCII code if character key is
pressed, otherwise 0.
 To input character with echo:
 MOV AH, 1
 INT 21H ; read character will be in AL register
 To input a character without echo:
 MOV AH, 8
 INT 21H ; read character will be in AL register
 OUR FIRST HELLO WORLD
PROGRAM
.model small
.stack 100h
.data
message db 'Hello World', 13, 10, '$'
.code
start:
mov ax, @data
mov ds, ax
mov dx, offset message ; copy address of message to dx
mov ah, 9h ; string output
int 21h ; display string
mov ax, 4c00h
int 21h
end start
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 DISPLAYING A STRING
 Input: AH=9, DX= offset address of a string.
 String must end with a ‘$’ character.
 To display the message Hello!
 MSG DB “Hello!$”
 MOV AH, 9
 MOV DX, offset MSG
 INT 21H
 OFFSET operator returns the address of a
variable
 The instruction LEA (load effective address) loads
destination with address of source
 LEA DX, MSG
A CASE CONVERSION PROGRAM
 Prompt the user to enter a lowercase letter, and
on next line displays another message with letter
in uppercase.
 Enter a lowercase letter: a
 In upper case it is: A

.model small
.DATA
CR EQU 0DH
LF EQU 0AH
MSG1 DB "Enter a lower case letter: $"
MSG2 DB CR, LF, "In upper case it is: "
Char DB ?, '$'
A CASE CONVERSION PROGRAM -
CONT.
.CODE
; ; initialize data segment
LEA DX, MSG1 ; display first message
MOV AH, 9
INT 21H
MOV AH, 1 ; read character
INT 21H
SUB AL, 20H; convert it to upper case
MOV CHAR, AL ; and store it
LEA DX, MSG2 ; display second message and
MOV AH, 9 ; uppercase letter
INT 21H
; return to DOS
 COPYING A STRING TO
ANOTHER
.model small
.DATA

String1 DB "Hello"
String2 DB 5 dup(?)

.CODE
MOV AX, @DATA
MOV DS, AX
MOV ES, AX
CLD
MOV CX, 5
LEA SI, String1
LEA DI, String2
REP MOVSB
End!

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 ASSIGNMENT
 Microcomputer and Interfacing assignment two(10%)
 Dead line: It will be noticed in the future  
 Implement the following program using Emu886 and
demonstrate it in the lab in peer groups  
1. Write an assembly language that prompt and accept a
string from a keyboard of maximum size of 20 character,
reverse the string and display the reversed string using
appropriate int 21h dos interrupt service routine.
2. Write an assembly language that accept a maximum
number of 10 one digit numbers and do the following things
A. Find the maximum and average numbers
B. Sort it in ascending and descending order using bubble sort whose
pseudo code is shown bellow
  

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BUBBLE SORT PSEUDO CODE

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