The long-awaited x64 edition of the bestselling introduction to Intel assembly language
In the newly revised fourth edition of x64 Assembly Language Step-by-Step: Programming with Linux, author Jeff Duntemann delivers an extensively rewritten introduction to assembly language with a strong focus on 64-bit long-mode Linux assembler. The book offers a lighthearted, robust, and accessible approach to a challenging technical discipline, giving you a step-by-step path to learning assembly code that’s engaging and easy to read.
x64 Assembly Language Step-by-Step makes quick work of programmable computing basics, the concepts of binary and hexadecimal number systems, the Intel x86/x64 computer architecture, and the process of Linux software development to dive deep into the x64 instruction set, memory addressing, procedures, macros, and interface to the C-language code libraries on which Linux is built.
You’ll also find:
- A set of free and open-source development and debugging tools you can download and put to use immediately
- Numerous examples woven throughout the book to illustrate the practical implementation of the ideas discussed within
- Practical tips on software design, coding, testing, and debugging
A one-stop resource for aspiring and practicing Intel assembly programmers, the latest edition of this celebrated text provides readers with an authoritative tutorial approach to x64 technology that’s ideal for self-paced instruction. Please note, the author's listings that accompany this book are available from the author website at www.contrapositivediary.com under his heading "My Assembly Language Books."
Table of Contents:
Introduction xxix
Chapter 1 It’s All in the Plan 1
Another Pleasant Valley Saturday 1
Had This Been the Real Thing 5
Assembly Language Programming As a Square Dance 5
Assembly Language Programming As a Board Game 6
Chapter 2 Alien Bases 11
The Return of the New Math Monster 11
Octal: How the Grinch Stole Eight and Nine 16
Hexadecimal: Solving the Digit Shortage 20
From Hex to Decimal and from Decimal to Hex 24
Practice. Practice! PRACTICE! 27
Arithmetic in Hex 28
Binary 34
Hexadecimal as Shorthand for Binary 38
Prepare to Compute 40
Chapter 3 Lifting the Hood 41
RAXie, We Hardly Knew Ye 41
Switches, Transistors, and Memory 43
The Shop Supervisor and the Assembly Line 54
The Box That Follows a Plan 58
What vs. How: Architecture and Microarchitecture 63
Enter the Plant Manager 67
Chapter 4 Location, Location, Location 73
The Joy of Memory Models 73
The Nature of Segments 80
Segment Registers 87
The Four Major Assembly Programming Models 95
64-Bit Long Mode 101
Chapter 5 The Right to Assemble 103
The Nine and Sixty Ways to Code 103
Files and What’s Inside Them 104
Text In, Code Out 115
The Assembly Language Development Process 123
Linking the Object Code File 130
Taking a Trip Down Assembly Lane 134
Chapter 6 A Place to Stand, with Access to Tools 143
Integrated Development Environments 143
Introducing SASM 146
Linux and Terminals 153
Using Linux Make 164
Debugging with SASM 172
Chapter 7 Following Your Instructions 175
Build Yourself a Sandbox 176
Instructions and Their Operands 178
Source and Destination Operands 178
Rally Round the Flags, Boys! 186
Signed and Unsigned Values 195
Implicit Operands and MUL 200
Reading and Using an Assembly Language Reference 205
NEG Negate (Two’s Complement; i.e., Multiply by −1) 208
Chapter 8 Our Object All Sublime 213
The Bones of an Assembly Language Program 213
Last In, First Out via the Stack 223
Using Linux Kernel Services Through Syscall 231
Designing a Nontrivial Program 235
Going Further 248
Chapter 9 Bits, Flags, Branches, and Tables 251
Bits Is Bits (and Bytes Is Bits) 251
Shifting Bits 258
Bit-Bashing in Action 262
Flags, Tests, and Branches 270
X64 Long Mode Memory Addressing in Detail 279
Character Table Translation 290
Tables Instead of Calculations 298
Chapter 10 Dividing and Conquering 299
Boxes within Boxes 300
Calling and Returning 309
Local Labels and the Lengths of Jumps 325
Building External Procedure Libraries 330
The Art of Crafting Procedures 352
Simple Cursor Control in the Linux Console 356
Creating and Using Macros 364
Chapter 11 Strings and Things 377
The Notion of an Assembly Language String 378
REP STOSB, the Software Machine Gun 387
The Semiautomatic Weapon: STOSB Without REP 392
MOVSB: Fast Block Copies 397
Storing Data to Discontinuous Strings 402
Command-Line Arguments, String Searches, and the Linux Stack 408
The Stack, Its Structure, and How to Use It 414
Chapter 12 Heading Out to C 423
What’s GNU? 424
Linking to the Standard C Library 429
Formatted Text Output with printf() 438
Data In with fgets() and scanf() 442
Be a Linux Time Lord 448
Understanding AT&T Instruction Mnemonics 456
Generating Random Numbers 460
How C Sees Command-Line Arguments 472
Simple File I/O 474
Conclusion: Not the End, But Only the Beginning 489
Appendix A The Return of the Insight Debugger 493
Insight’s Shortcomings 494
Opening a Program Under Insight 495
Setting Command-Line Arguments with Insight 496
Running and Stepping a Program 496
The Memory Window 497
Showing the Stack in Insight’s Memory View 498
Examining the Stack with Insight’s Memory View 498
Learn gdb! 500
Appendix B Partial x64 Instruction Reference 501
What’s Been Removed from x64 502
Flag Results 502
Size Specifiers 503
Instruction Index 505
ADC: Arithmetic Addition with Carry 507
ADD: Arithmetic Addition 509
AND: Logical AND 511
BT: Bit Test 513
CALL: Call Procedure 515
CLC: Clear Carry Flag (CF) 517
CLD: Clear Direction Flag (DF) 518
CMP: Arithmetic Comparison 519
DEC: Decrement Operand 521
DIV: Unsigned Integer Division 522
INC: Increment Operand 524
J??: Jump If Condition Is Met 525
JECXZ: Jump if ECX=0 527
JRCXZ: Jump If RCX=0 528
JMP: Unconditional Jump 529
LEA: Load Effective Address 531
LOOP: Loop Until CX/ECX/RCX=0 532
LOOPNZ/LOOPNE: Loop Until CX/ECX/RCX=0 and ZF=0 534
LOOPZ/LOOPE: Loop Until CX/ECX/RCX=0 and ZF=1 535
MOV: Copy Right Operand into Left Operand 536
MOVS: Move String 538
MOVSX: Copy with Sign Extension 540
MUL: Unsigned Integer Multiplication 542
NEG: Negate (Two’s Complement; i.e., Multiply by −1) 544
NOP: No Operation 546
NOT: Logical NOT (One’s Complement) 547
OR: Logical OR 548
POP: Copy Top of Stack into Operand 550
POPF/D/Q: Copy Top of Stack into Flags Register 552
PUSH: Push Operand onto Top of Stack 553
PUSHF/D/Q: Push Flags Onto the Stack 555
RET: Return from Procedure 556
ROL/ROR: Rotate Left/Rotate Right 558
SBB: Arithmetic Subtraction with Borrow 560
SHL/SHR: Shift Left/Shift Right 562
STC: Set Carry Flag (CF) 564
STD: Set Direction Flag (DF) 565
STOS/B/W/D/Q: Store String 566
SUB: Arithmetic Subtraction 568
SYSCALL: Fast System Call into Linux 570
XCHG: Exchange Operands 571
XLAT: Translate Byte Via Table 572
XOR: Exclusive OR 573
Appendix C Character Set Charts 575
Index 579
About the Author :
JEFF DUNTEMANN is an accomplished author of both science fiction and technical nonfiction. He has published dozens of technical articles in magazines, co-founded The Coriolis Group, a large publishing house in Arizona, and works as a technical publishing consultant. He owns Copperwood Press, a POD imprint hosted on amazon.com.
