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4.6: Text Section

  • Page ID
    19881
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    The code is placed in the "section .text" section. There must be a space after the word 'section'. The instructions are specified one per line and each must be a valid instruction with the appropriate required operands.

    The text section will include some headers or labels that define the initial program entry point. For example, assuming a basic program using the standard system linker, the following declarations must be included.

         global _start
         _start:
    

    No special label or directives are required to terminate the program. However, a system service should be used to inform the operating system that the program should be terminated and the resources, such as memory, recovered and re-utilized. Refer to the example program in the following section.

    A very simple assembly language program is presented to demonstrate the appropriate program formatting.

    ; Simple example demonstrating basic program format and layout.
    
    ; Ed Jorgensen
    ; July 18, 2014
    
    ; ************************************************************
    ;  Some basic data declarations
    
    section   .data
    
    ; -----
    ;  Define constants
    
    EXIT_SUCCESS    equ     0     ; successful operation
    SYS_exit        equ     60    ; call code for terminate
    
    ; -----
    ;  Byte (8-bit) variable declarations
    
    bVar1        db        17
    bVar2        db        9
    bResult      db        0
    
    ; -----
    ;  Word (16-bit) variable declarations
    
    wVar1        dw        17000
    wVar2        dw        9000
    wResult      dw        0
    
    ; -----
    ;  Double-word (32-bit) variable declarations
    
    dVar1           dd        17000000
    dVar2           dd        9000000
    dResult         dd        0
    
    ; -----
    ;  quadword (64-bit) variable declarations
    
    qVar1        dq      170000000
    qVar2        dq      90000000
    qResult      dq      0
    
    ; ************************************************************
    ;  Code Section
    
    section     .text
    global _start
    _start:
    
    ;  Performs a series of very basic addition operations
    ;  to demonstrate basic program format.
    
    ; ----------
    ;  Byte example
    ;   bResult = bVar1 + bVar2
    
        mov     al, byte [bVar1]
        add     al, byte [bVar2]
        mov     byte [bResult], al
    
    ; ----------
    ;  Word example
    ;   wResult = wVar1 + wVar2
    
        mov     ax, word [wVar1]
        add     ax, word [wVar2]
        mov     word [wResult], ax
    
    ; ----------
    ;  Double-word example
    ;   dResult = dVar1 + dVar2
    
        mov     eax, dword [dVar1]
        add     eax, dword [dVar2]
        mov     dword [dResult], eax
    
    ; ----------
    ;  Quadword example
    ;   qResult = qVar1 + qVar2
    
        mov     rax, qword [qVar1]
        add     rax, qword [qVar2]
        mov     qword [qResult], rax
    
    ; ************************************************************
    ;  Done, terminate program.
    
    last:
        mov     rax, SYS_exit       ; Call code for exit
        mov     rdi, EXIT_SUCCESS   ; Exit program with success
        syscall
    

    This example program will be referenced and further explained in the following chapters.


    This page titled 4.6: Text Section is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ed Jorgensen.

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