Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!crdgw1!rpi!hiebeler
From: hiebeler@heretic.lanl.gov (David Hiebeler)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Material on .ASM subtleties sought
Message-ID: <887$9&^@rpi.edu>
Date: 3 Aug 90 20:49:54 GMT
References: <1068@ashton.UUCP>
Organization: Theoretical Division, Los Alamos Nat. Lab; RPI CS Dept
Lines: 36


  I'm currently writing some new software to control a plug-in
cellular automata board for PC's (Cray-1 speeds for $2000, plug plug). ;-)
This involves writing an interrupt routine to service the board, and
some low-level I/O routines to transfer data between the PC and the
board.

  I never got much into assembly language, since I'm fairly new to the
PC scene.  I've never written even a moderate assembly-language
stand-alone program.  What I *have* done, in writing my software
(using Turbo C 2.0), is to go back and re-do some of my low-level C
routines using inline assembly.  I think Turbo C is great for that
(maybe Microsoft is too, but I haven't used it).  C will take care of
passing parameters and so on; you can just write the simple bare-bones
low-level stuff in assembler.  That's the way it should be, in my
opinion.

  I don't know what others think of this practice, but I've found it
very useful; it allows me to code critical sections of code in
assembly language, without having to learn all the nasty details about
assembling a complete program.  It's worked well so far, with no
disasters to speak of.

  I think it also makes the development cycle a little easier; for
example, I'll write a display routine in C which will be unbearably
slow, but will allow me to test my package.  When I know things are
working, then I can go back and turn the C code in the display
function into inline assembly, and the rest of my routines never see
any difference in the interface -- it still looks like a C function to
them.

-- 
Dave Hiebeler                      | Internet: hiebeler@heretic.lanl.gov
Complex Systems Group              | Bitnet: userF3JL@rpitsmts
MS B213, Theoretical Division      | UUCP: crdgw1!automtrx!hiebeler
Los Alamos National Laboratory  /  Los Alamos, NM 87545  USA