Computer Architecture Course - Assembly Language Exercises

A comprehensive collection of x86 assembly language programming exercises from a university-level computer architecture course. These exercises cover fundamental concepts in low-level programming, including loops, conditionals, array operations, string handling, and mathematical computations.

📋 Table of Contents

• Project Overview
• File Descriptions
• Prerequisites
• How to Run
• Topics Covered
• File Structure
• Contributing

Project Overview

This repository contains practical assembly language exercises designed to deepen understanding of computer architecture fundamentals. Each .asm file demonstrates specific programming concepts and CPU operations, ranging from basic I/O operations to complex algorithms.

File Descriptions

Foundational Concepts

• Leggere e stampare un intero.asm - Reading and printing integers
• Leggere e stampare una stringa.asm - Reading and printing strings
• stampaStr.asm - String output operations

String Operations

• Char_in_substring.asm - Finding characters in substrings
• conta_sottostringa_in_stringa.asm - Counting substring occurrences
• delete_spaces.asm - String space removal
• num_of_schars.asm - Character counting
• occorrenze.asm - Occurrence detection
• Palindromo.asm - Palindrome checking
• stampa_contrario.asm / StampaContr.asm - Reverse string printing
• vocali_upper.asm - Vowel uppercase conversion

Mathematical Operations

• factorial.asm - Factorial calculation
• prodotto.asm - Multiplication operations
• SommaNum.asm - Number summation
• given_array_find_sum.asm - Array summation
• find_min_max_media.asm - Finding minimum, maximum, and average values
• max e media float.asm - Floating-point max and average operations
• MathTest.asm - Mathematical operation testing
• 27_maggio_2022.asm - Exam exercise (May 27, 2022)

Bit and Mask Operations

• bit_mask.asm - Bit masking techniques
• mask.asm - Mask operations
• maschere_divisibili.asm - Divisibility mask operations
• overflow.asm - Integer overflow handling

Algorithms

• Bubblesort.asm - Bubble sort implementation
• sumArray.asm - Array summing algorithm

Prerequisites

To run these assembly programs, you'll need:

• MASM (Microsoft Macro Assembler) or NASM (Netwide Assembler)
• Windows or Linux environment (MASM primarily Windows, NASM cross-platform)
• Debugger (e.g., WinDbg, GDB for debugging)
• Basic understanding of x86 assembly language and CPU registers
• A text editor or IDE supporting assembly syntax (VS Code, Visual Studio, etc.)

Installation (Linux with NASM)

sudo apt-get install nasm

Installation (Windows with MASM)

Download and install the Microsoft Visual Studio Build Tools or Visual Studio Community with C++ support.

How to Run

Using NASM (Linux/Cross-platform)

1. Assemble the .asm file:

   nasm -f elf64 filename.asm -o filename.o

2. Link the object file:

   ld -o filename filename.o

3. Run the program:

   ./filename

Using MASM (Windows)

1. Assemble:

   ml64.exe /c filename.asm

2. Link:

   link filename.obj

3. Run:

   filename.exe

Using a Debugger

For NASM/Linux with GDB:

gdb ./filename

For MASM/Windows with WinDbg:

windbg filename.exe

Topics Covered

• Input/Output Operations - Reading from and writing to console
• Data Types - Integers, floats, characters, and strings
• Control Flow - Conditionals and loops (CMP, JMP, JNE, JE, etc.)
• Array Operations - Indexing, traversal, and processing
• String Manipulation - Concatenation, reversal, searching
• Mathematical Operations - Arithmetic, floating-point calculations
• Bit Operations - Masking, shifting, logical operations
• Algorithms - Sorting, searching, and other classic algorithms

File Structure

Computer-Architecture-Course-Assembly-main/
├── README.md
├── Foundational exercises
│   ├── Leggere e stampare un intero.asm
│   └── Leggere e stampare una stringa.asm
├── String operations
│   ├── Palindromo.asm
│   ├── delete_spaces.asm
│   └── ...
├── Mathematical operations
│   ├── factorial.asm
│   ├── find_min_max_media.asm
│   └── ...
├── Bit and mask operations
│   ├── bit_mask.asm
│   └── overflow.asm
└── Algorithms
    ├── Bubblesort.asm
    └── sumArray.asm

Educational Value

These exercises are designed to:

• Strengthen understanding of CPU architecture and instruction sets
• Practice low-level programming and memory management
• Develop debugging and problem-solving skills
• Prepare students for systems programming and reverse engineering
• Provide hands-on experience with assembly language concepts

License

This repository is educational material from a university course. Please check with your institution for usage rights and licensing information.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To contribute:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/improvement)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add improvement')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/improvement)
5. Submit a pull request

For bug reports or suggestions, please open an issue.

References

• x86 Assembly Language Reference
• NASM Documentation
• Intel x86 Instructions Reference
• Assembly Language Tutorials

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Course Level: Intermediate
Language: x86 Assembly