Assembly Language for x86 Processors: Key Concepts

These flashcards cover important vocabulary and concepts from the lecture on Assembly Language for x86 Processors.

MOV Instruction

The instruction used to transfer data from a source to a destination.

Direct Memory Operand

A named reference to a memory location, automatically dereferenced by the assembler.

Zero Extension

The process of filling the upper bits of a larger operand with zeros when copying a smaller value.

Sign Extension

The process of replicating the sign bit to fill the upper bits of a larger operand when copying a smaller value.

XCHG Instruction

An instruction that exchanges values between two operands, requiring at least one operand to be a register.

Immediate Operand

A constant integer value encoded directly within the instruction.

Indirect Addressing

An operand that holds the address of a variable, allowing dereferencing like a pointer.

TYPE Operator

Returns the size, in bytes, of a single element of a data declaration.

LENGTHOF Operator

Counts the number of elements in a single data declaration.

SIZEOF Operator

Returns the size in bytes of an array based on its type and length.

JMP Instruction

An unconditional jump to a specified label within a procedure.

LOOP Instruction

Creates a counting loop, which decrements ECX and jumps to a target if ECX is not zero.

Carry Flag (CF)

Set when an operation generates an unsigned value that is out of range.

Overflow Flag (OF)

Set when the signed result of an operation is invalid or out of range.

Sign Flag (SF)

Set when the destination operand is negative.

Zero Flag (ZF)

Set when the result of an operation is zero.

PTR Operator

Overrides the default type of a label, allowing access to part of a variable.