Development and use of an assembler in computer systems courses
Soe Than · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 2001
Assembly language programming provides students the ability to manipulate bits and bytes inside a computer. But how do they know that the effect of their assembly language program is the same as what they have expected? If there is a way to `see' the bits and bytes after execution of their programs, they will understand more about that computer and its instructions. Therefore a simulator and an assembler for a basic computer, designed in Computer System Architecture (3rd Edition) by M. Morris Mano [1], was developed and used in our Computer Systems course. The background information about the basic computer, development of the simulator and the assembler, our experience in using them in our course, and benefits gained from using them are discussed.