The Netwide assembler Nasm is an 80 x 86 assembler designed for portability and modularity.
It supports a range of object file formats, including Linux and NetBSD FreeBSD a dot out elf coff Microsoft
16 bit object file and win 32 and others.
It will also output plain binary files, so its syntax is designed to be simple and easy to understand.
So similar to Intel's but less complex.
So it supports Pentium P6, MKs 3D now SE and SSI two Opcodes plus it has a macro capability, which
is good.
You will use that next lectures.
And let's ask a question to ourselves why yet another assembler?
The Netwide assembler grew out of an idea on pump lanc, ESM x86 or possibly altalink that ESM, which
was essentially that there didn't seem to be a good 386 series assembler around and that maybe someone
ought to write one.
So I wrote the.
I compared this assemblers 1 to 3.
These five assemblers.
Actually, the six is an assembly between each other.
So let's start from the a86.
So A86 is good, but not free.
And in particular, you don't get any 32 bit capability until you pay and it is thus only two.
We have also gas here.
Gas is free and ports over Dos and Unix, but it's not very good since it's designed to be back end
to GCC which always feeds it correct code.
So it's error checking is minimal.
Also, its syntax is horrible from the point of view of anyone trying to actually write anything in
it.
Plus you can't write 16 bit code in it.
You can actually, but you can't write it properly.
And we also have s 86 as 86 is a Linux and Linux specific and my version at least doesn't seem to have
much or any documentation.
Um.
Masm is not very good and it's expensive.
Like all the Microsoft uh, things here and it runs only under Dos here.
Um, and we also have TSM, which is better, better than MSM, but still strives for MSM compatibility,
which means millions of directives and tons of red tape.
And its syntax is essentially a msmes with the contradictions and quirks that entails, although it
sorts out some of those by means of idle mode.
And it's expensive too.
And it's only.
Those only here.