Assembly language programming under UNIX® is highly
undocumented. It is generally assumed that no one would ever want to use it because
various UNIX systems run on different microprocessors, so
everything should be written in C for portability.
In reality, C portability is quite a myth. Even C programs need to be modified when
ported from one UNIX to another, regardless of what
processor each runs on. Typically, such a program is full of conditional statements
depending on the system it is compiled for.
Even if we believe that all of UNIX software should be
written in C, or some other high-level language, we still need assembly language
programmers: Who else would write the section of C library that accesses the kernel?
In this chapter I will attempt to show you how you can use assembly language writing
UNIX programs, specifically under FreeBSD.
This chapter does not explain the basics of assembly language. There are enough
resources about that (for a complete online course in assembly language, see Randall
Hyde's Art of Assembly Language;
or if you prefer a printed book, take a look at Jeff Duntemann's Assembly Language
Step-by-Step). However, once the chapter is finished, any assembly language
programmer will be able to write programs for FreeBSD quickly and efficiently.
Copyright © 2000-2001 G. Adam Stanislav. All rights reserved.
