With the development of the Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) version 6.0, you now have more options available to you for approaching a programming task. This chapter explains the general concepts of programming in assembly language, beginning with the environment and reviewing the components you need to work in the assembler environment. Even if you are familiar with previous versions of MASM, you should examine this chapter for information on new terms and features.
The first section of the chapter takes a look at the available processors and operating systems and how they work together. It also discusses the relationship of segmented architecture to assembly programming and the differences it makes for programming in OS/2 rather than in DOS.
The second section describes some of the language components of MASM that are common to most programs, such as reserved words, constant expressions, operators, and registers. The rest of this book assumes that you understand the information presented in this section.
The last section summarizes the assembly process, from assembling a program through running it. You can affect this process by the way you develop your code. Finally, this section explores how you can change the assembly process with the OPTION directive and conditional assembly.
NOTE:
This manual does not cover information specific to programming for Microsoft WindowsÔ. For information on this, see the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit.