Re:x86 assembly doesn’t have to be scary (2018)
by avianes on Friday October 15, 2021 @10:32AM
(#28878081)
> "But the assembler has the LI pseudoinstruction so it will properly do this calculation for you!". Right, so much for "nice assembly language": you need an actual smart macroassembler to write it.
In x86 the mnemonic "MOV" can be translated into instructions with a different opcode according to the addressing mode, immediate value size, or target register.
Most of the x86 instructions have a similar issue, while RISC-V macroassembler are pretty simple.
Therefore, the x86 assembler must actually contain much more intelligence than the RISC-V assembler to make it look "simple" and "nice".
In x86 the mnemonic "MOV" can be translated into instructions with a different opcode according to the addressing mode, immediate value size, or target register. Most of the x86 instructions have a similar issue, while RISC-V macroassembler are pretty simple. Therefore, the x86 assembler must actually contain much more intelligence than the RISC-V assembler to make it look "simple" and "nice".