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.
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.
Go large, go Grande. There’s no end to the ways to load a register. Do you remember what type of instruction this is? Is is indexed? How about the displacement size? Review and remember here. Have a great weekend!
We continue to investigate various load operations that are available (of which there are many). Load Byte (LB) is easy one to pick up if you haven’t used it in the past. Here is the write up.
[IBM Z Day: Special Edition, on April 8th. Free training. Earn badges. Register Now – ibm.biz/ibmzday2025-se
Here is a video discussion of the eleven load operations that were given a visual depiction last week. If you are not familiar with all of these loads, the video can help you quickly master these and give you a way to remember them easily.
Here is a video I made about the importance of “green cards”. Like all advice, it’s worth about what you pay for it 🙂 If you are new to assembler, you might learn something interesting.
This week, instead of an article about one instruction, I give you a visual depiction of the eleven load operations for an IBM z16. There are no words, so it’s something like a puzzle. You have to parse the diagrams to glean the information. Much is left out of course. No talk of addressing techniques, just the results of executing each instruction is depicted. But you may learn a new instruction or reinforce what you already know. Enjoy—it helped me. View the diagrams here. Let me know if you would like a video about this.