[Info-vax] Assembly languages

[chris]

On 04/09/22 19:51, Simon Clubley wrote:
> On 2022-04-09, Bill Gunshannon<bill.gunshannon at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> On 4/9/22 00:31, Dave Froble wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> I doubt that many, if any, choose assembler because they like it.  At
>>> times it is the best choice.  That appears to have decreased.
>>>
>
> Sometimes it is the only choice, but those cases are limited these days.
>
>>
>> I always like assembler.  Have done some recently and expect to more
>> in the near future.  I know the assembler for at least 10 processors.
>> But then, I am a dinosaur.
>>
>
> Assembly languages I've used in recent years: ARM, x86, MIPS, Macro-32,
> and Alpha native assembly language.
>
> Older assembly languages I knew at one time: Macro-11, Z80.
>
> The above is not an exclusive list, but the point is that I am experienced
> when it comes to assembly language.
>
> And with that experience, I believe the time for assembly language is
> well and truly past, unless it's needed for something specific such
> as some inline assembly fragment to access a CPU-specific register
> (for example), or really low-level stuff such as the initial interrupt
> handling and dispatch the interrupt to a device driver stuff or other
> such low-level work where not even C would be suitable.
>
> Simon.
>

Not fluent with any now, but quite a few in the past. Here, it's
typically used to clear memory, perhaps setup cpu clock and
other registers if required, set stack pointer and then call main().
Just about everything else, peripheral control registers, interrupt
handlers etc are all in C for years now, though interrupt handlers
may have a bit of inline assember to save context, depending on the
cpu and toolchain. In general, try to minimise assembler usage for
clarity and maintenance reasons...

Chris