SolidusCode Blog

Lets go over how to create local variables inside of a pure assembly source code. Much like always, you will start with a *.asm file that looks like this: source code SECTION .data SECTION .bss SECTION .text global main ;make main available to operating system(os) main: ;create the stack frame push ebp push mov ebp, esp ;destroy the stack frame mov esp, ebp pop ebp ret So, the above is the general layout of an NASM source file.  Our goal here is to create a local variable inside of the main method.  The only way to create a local variable is by using the stack.  Why?  Because we can only declare variable in storage locations and the only available storage locations are: text, bss, and data.  However, text section is only for code, so it is out of the question.  The bss and data sections are appealing, but to declare our "local" variable in these sections will defeat the purpose of these variables being local, t

Programs become more and more interesting when you have dynamic elements in them.  On such way of bringing your program to life is by adding logic.  In assembly, the task can seem dubious and awkward, but once you get a grip on the concept, it will be but second nature. So lets get started! //We want to write an equivalent program to this in assembly #include <stdio.h> int main(){ int x = 40; if( x > 10){ printf("x is greater than 10\n"); }else{ printf("x is lesser than 10\n"); } return 0; } To write this in assembly, consider the following: ;an equivalent program to this in assembly SECTION .data x: dd 40 msg1: db "x is greater than 10", 10, 0 msg2: db "x is lesser than 10", 10, 0 SECTION .text Here, all we did is create our variable x, and the respective message that we will display depending on the result of our if statement. Continually: ;an equivalent program to this in assembly SECTION .data x: dd 40 msg1: db "

Whenever you start programming, there is usually the first program that prints the phrase "Hello world" to the screen.  Well, let us keep that tradition and write an entire assembly program that print that message to the screen. ;Our Assembly Program file SECTION .data SECTION .bss SECTION .text The preceding is the standard file format of an assembly program using the Netwide assembler, or NASM. To write something to the screen, we first need to store the value of what we want to render to the screen by declaring variables. ;Our Assembly Program file SECTION .data ourHelloMsg: db "Hello world, we are in assembly", 10, 0 ;our simple message SECTION .bss SECTION .text Next, we want to use some real world practical assembly coding to print this message to the screen.  We could simple using the Linux int80h instruction to tell the operating system to print this message (if you aren't sure what I mean by this, do not worry), however we will use the printf

Many of you, if you are like me, might be interested in how assembly works.  You will be very surprised that assembly is very very easy, especially after you write a couple of simple programs.  But don't get me wrong, you will be frustrated at first, however that frustration, if you channel it right, will lead to serious life long learning and will give you a deeper appreciation of the beauty of assembly. For more tutorial on assembly and visualization of these information, visit my youtube channel . Okay so lets get started. We will be using Netwide Assembler (NASM) to write our program. The general format of NASM file is this: ;This is a comment SECTION .data ;declare variable here SECTION .bss ;declare actual, dynamic variable SECTION .text ;where your program code/assembly code lives ; Working with Data Section In your .data section, you can declare variables like this: nameOfVariable: db 32 ;this declares a variable names nameOfVariable with byte valu

The following is the finalized code for a simple C++ smart pointer as demonstrated by my youtube video:  here Usage: void main(){      ...     Pointer<ObjectType> pointer(new ObjectType);     ... } /*  * Pointer.h  *  *  Created on: Mar 16, 2012  *      Author: ukaku  */ #ifndef POINTER_H_ #define POINTER_H_ #include <iostream> using namespace std ; /**  * Reference represents a counter that will be incremented or decremented as  * the number of references to a pecticular pointer is made;  *  * where data means: a symbol used to point to, or associate to another object  */ class ReferenceCounter { private :     int counter ; public :     ReferenceCounter ( ) {         counter = 0 ;   //initially set to zero     }     void increase ( ) {         counter ++;   //increase it     }     int decrease ( ) {         -- counter ;   //decrease it         if ( counter < 0 ) {             cout << "ReferenceCouner is <

In this collision tutorial, we will take more in detail with how exact we get the normals and how we get the intervals.  However, I will not be going in detail regarding vector math needed to understand this, although it is simple and I will eventually post blogs regarding them. Down to business.  Our shape is composed of vertices.  In the case of this rectangle, there is four vertices, in red, and four normals, in brown.  The vertices are self explanatory and the normals describe the orientation or the way a side of the triangle is facing.  Take note that the vertices are defined such that the center of the triangle, not indicated in the picture, is at position(0,0) and all vertices defining the vertex is relative to this location; just like in a normal coordinate system. Now, to get the normal for a side of the rectangle we take two vertices defining an edge of the rectangle and subtract them.  Further, we swap the x, and y components and negate the new y component.  Then we norma

When writing games, collision detection is important, especially one that is fast and robust.  True, you can get away with having a simple rectangular collision detection where your checking if two squares overlay, but that becomes less reliable when objects in your application/game are moving fast and many I good collision detection system is SAT or  Separating axis theorem.  It says that if two convex shapes' (shapes that do not invaginate) projections along their respective normals does not overlap then the shapes do not overlay.  More clearly, if there is any project that separates the two shapes, then there is a collision. That is it. However, this requires further explanation.  A convex shape is like a rectangle, an octagon, or any shape that does not fold into itself.  When using SAT, we use its normals, denoted by brown lines, to project two convex shapes while comparing to see if the two's intervals overlap. If an overlap exist, then a collision is occurring. Her