x86 Assembly Programming Language

When microseconds matter, software developers turn to assembly language to get the best performance a computer can offer. If you know assembly, you can diagnose program crashes and debug software that has no source code available. Also, knowing how your processor works can help you write better code in high-level languages.

While most software developers rarely need to work with assembly, it’s an important tool for a well-rounded software developer. That’s why most accredited colleges teach assembly to their computer science students.

What’s So Hard About Assembly Language?

Like all assembly languages, x86 requires you to understand a lot of low level details. However, there are often many ways to do the same thing, and you have to evaluate the tradeoffs. Details include:

• The core instruction set and registers, which have variations depending on the register size.
• The x86 calling convention, which varies between operating systems and platforms
• Transforming high-level control structures like if statements and while loops into conditional branch instructions.
• Handling floating-point math. There are several different sets of instructions for doing floating-point math, and different courses require different sets.
• Managing the virtual memory address space.

How Can You Help Me?

Our help starts where artificial intelligence tools like Claude®, Microsoft Copilot®, and ChatGPT® fall short:

• Deep Analysis: Artificial intelligence tools often can’t understand all the intricacies of a full assembly language program, since its low-level nature obscures the high-level goals. We can help you analyze your program and make sense of it.
• Test-Taking Tips: Your course will usually expect you to use a specific subset of x86, so you can’t just use any techniques you find online. We can help you learn just the knowledge you need for projects and tests.
• Deep Knowledge: Our tutors have experience using x86 at work or on personal projects. Get answers to your questions when artificial intelligence tools can’t help you.

Resources

• Assembly Language for x86 Processors, by Kip R. Irvine. We recommend the 6th edition, since it’s cheap and covers most of what you need.