Microprocessor and Microcontroller
What is an Assembler?
An assembler is a software tool - a program -- designed to simplify the task
of writing computer programs. If you have ever written a computer program
directly in a machine-recognizable form such as binary or hexadecimal code,
you will appreciate the advantages of programming in a symbolic assembly
language.
Assembly language operation codes (opcodes) are easily remembered
(MOV for move instructions, JMP for jump). You can also symbolically express
addresses and values referenced in the operand field of instructions. Since you
assign these names, you can make them as meaningful as the mnemonics for
the instructions. For example, if your program manipulates a date as data, you
can assign it the symbolic name DATE. If your program contains a set of
instructions used as a timing loop (a set of instructions executed repeatedly
until a specific amount of time has passed), you can name the instruction group
TIMER.
What the Assembler Does
To use the assembler, you first need a source program. The source program
consists of programmer written assembly language instructions. These
instructions are written using mnemonic opcodes and labels. Assembly
language source programs must be in a machine-readable form when passed to
the assembler. TheIntellec development system includes a text editor that will
help you maintain source programs as paper tape files or diskette files. You can
then pass the resulting source program file to the assembler. The assembler
program performs the clerical task of translating symbolic code into object code
which can be executed by the 8080 and 8085 microprocessors. Assembler
output consists of three possible files: the object filecontaining your program
translated into object code; the list file printout of your source code, the
assemble generated object code, and the symbol table; and the symbol-crass-
reference file, a listing of the symbol-cross reference records.
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