question # 5

Research in the net the most recent assembler. Describe its history, nature and applications. Evaluate this assembler from its predecessor.

Cite your reference. Refrain from copying and pasting answers.

FASM is a low-level assembler. It does not support as many high-level statements as MASM or TASM.Instead it provides syntax features and macros which make it possible to customize or create missing statements. Its memory addressing syntax is similar to TASM's ideal mode and NASM. Brackets are used to denote memory operands as in both assemblers but their size is placed outside the brackets like in NASM.

FASM is a multi-pass assembler. It makes extensive code size optimization, and allows more forward referencing. A usual FASM construct is defining data or procedures only if they are used somewhere in the code, something that in most languages is done per-object by the linker.

FASM is based on the SSSO principle (same source, same output). This means the contents of the resulting file are not affected by the command line^[9] (except recently (in 1.67.24) added "-D" switch). Such an approach saves FASM sources from compilation problems often present in many assembly projects. On the other hand, it makes it very hard to maintain a project that consists of multiple separately compiled source files, or mixed-language projects. FASM projects can be built from a single source directly into executable without a linking stage.


history:

The project was started in 1999 by Tomasz Grysztar, aka Privalov (at that time, an undergraduate student of mathematics from Poland) and its first public release was announced on March 15, 2000. FASM is completely written in assembly language and comes with full source. It is self-hosting and has been able to assemble itself since version 0.90 (May 4, 1999). It has been used to write several operating systems including MenuetOS KolibriOS and DexOS.


references:


www.wikipedia.com