Learn IBM Assemb;y Lsnhushr
When I was a kid, the Coasters had a big hit with Searchin’. If you are searchin’ for a particular character in a string, you can use TRT or try an easier route – use SRST (Search String). SRST avoids having to build a TRT table. And if you aren’t searchin’, take a break and listen to a classic. You can read about SRST here.
These “Greek” instructions use three registers, so learning to ADD (Greek) should be easy. You can find a link to the AGRK instruction here.
Multiply Greek! At least that’s how I remember it. Greek is a good mnemonic for MGRK. Use this instruction to multiply grande registers. This instruction has a simple setup, so it’s easy to use. Find it here.
Just a few more multiplication instructions, and we will move forward in the alphabet from “M”. MHY is a companion instruction to MFY. These two instructions share the same instruction format: RXY-a. Remember that “Y”-type instructions can reach farther from the base address, both forward and backward. You can find a writeup here.
I’m working on writing an article about each multiply instruction on the machine. Today’s instruction, Multiply Grande Halfword (MGH), provides an easy way to multiply a halfword value times a Grande Register value. It only takes a few minutes to review it here.
I’m still working my way alphabetically (ususally) through the instruction set, picking instructions you should learn. We are in the M’s and there’s a plethora of multiply instructions we can review. I’m also selecting instructions I haven’t already covered. Today’s instruction is Multiply Single Register (MSR), which provides an easy way to multiply two single-precision register values without much setup. The result should be single-precision if you want to use this instruction. Read about MSG here.
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A place for everything, and everything in its place. In assembler, that means that the things we define require proper alignment. This short paper discusses alignment for code and data, and how to get it.
Ready to tackle programs that can reach above the bar? As they say in Red Stick, There is beaucoup storage there waiting for you. In this video, you will learn how to call a subroutine that switches to 64-bit addressing to create 10 megabytes of storage above the bar. Think of what you can do with that amount of storage – Read an entire file into memory – build a data structure for all of your records. Besides the video, there is a working main program and a subroutine you can use to get started.