Introductory post

[mike93]

While this is a site for and of experienced programmers, I am just not experienced with windows or Intel or masm except as a user although I've done a little Excel VBA.

I'm coming from more than 35+ years of 99% assembler programming for the IBM 360 through z-series with a dramatically different instruction set and even more dramatically different assembler. Had 1 major project in C.

My personal interest has been and remains high performance I/O meaning 1 seek or I/O request with megabytes transferred in that request be it tape, printer, hard drive/dasd, card reader (aagggghhhh, yeah... I started when cards and sorters were still in use, and seek mechanisms were hydraulic. And today in the physical space of a single removable disk pack I imagine I could put 40+TB instead of 5 to 10MB. All drives very tightly packed just to make the number bigger.))

Its been on my agenda for some years to learn masm/Intel/windows interfacing but it never got done despite the fact that I even purchased MASM when it was available for purchase last millennium. Still have most of the books that came with it. Somehow the programmer's guide is misplaced but I see it may be available.

I've downloaded the various downloads although they are yet to be installed.

So if I ask what appear, feel like fairly basic questions for the rest of you, they may very well be.

Smile folks, laugh if you will, it is ok because I do--I keep asking where are and looking for the rest of the registers and I do know they are fewer, about half as many I'd say (never really thought to count them until this instant). I want to say 8 but I could be wrong as I don't have the p4 manual in this room.

Yeah... I have a paper copy of some of the Intel manuals even a 286 one.

Thanks.

Glad to be here.

Mike

[Mark Jones]

Hi Mike, welcome to the forum. There is a significant percentage of members here whom are moving "up" from mainframe coding. While MASM and Windows may be quite different, the prior experience will greatly reduce the learning curve. For a quick start, install the MASM32 package, check out \masm32\help\asmintro.chm, and take a peek at these beginner-to-intermediate tutorials:

http://win32assembly.online.fr/tutorials.html

[Vortex]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the forum.

[dedndave]

again, welcome Mike
the pentiums of today are a totally different class of processor than the old mainframes
there is much for you to learn, but you will enjoy it

[Jimg]

Hi Mike, and welcome.

I see from another post you live in Ventura.  I lived in Ventura for 32 years, working at Pt. Mugu on IBM and CDC mainframes.

[Astro]

Welcome to the forum!  :bg

[Farabi]

While this is a site for and of experienced programmers, I am just not experienced with windows or Intel or masm except as a user although I've done a little Excel VBA.

I'm coming from more than 35+ years of 99% assembler programming for the IBM 360 through z-series with a dramatically different instruction set and even more dramatically different assembler. Had 1 major project in C.

My personal interest has been and remains high performance I/O meaning 1 seek or I/O request with megabytes transferred in that request be it tape, printer, hard drive/dasd, card reader (aagggghhhh, yeah... I started when cards and sorters were still in use, and seek mechanisms were hydraulic. And today in the physical space of a single removable disk pack I imagine I could put 40+TB instead of 5 to 10MB. All drives very tightly packed just to make the number bigger.))

Its been on my agenda for some years to learn masm/Intel/windows interfacing but it never got done despite the fact that I even purchased MASM when it was available for purchase last millennium. Still have most of the books that came with it. Somehow the programmer's guide is misplaced but I see it may be available.

I've downloaded the various downloads although they are yet to be installed.

So if I ask what appear, feel like fairly basic questions for the rest of you, they may very well be.

Smile folks, laugh if you will, it is ok because I do--I keep asking where are and looking for the rest of the registers and I do know they are fewer, about half as many I'd say (never really thought to count them until this instant). I want to say 8 but I could be wrong as I don't have the p4 manual in this room.

Yeah... I have a paper copy of some of the Intel manuals even a 286 one.

Thanks.

Glad to be here.

Mike

OMG, you are a senior.
Many member here I known is a senior, their progress are fast. Even though you must be above 50 Y.O but judge from others progress you must be able to learn very quicly, even Im the young can be beaten. Welcome to the forum.

[dedndave]

hey !
i am above 50 too
i never thought of myself as a "senior"
you can call me a senior citizen when i fail to remember who you are - lol
at that point, i probably won't care what you call me, or if you call me at all

[Mark Jones]

Heheh, I believe Farabi was trying to show respect.

Only in the US, could such a word have other (negative) connotations. :bg

(For an example of the negative usage, see #4):     http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=senior
That's one crazy website by the way... most of the stuff there, I've never even heard before...

[Farabi]

Heheh, I believe Farabi was trying to show respect.

Only in the US, could such a word have other (negative) connotations. :bg

(For an example of the negative usage, see #4):     http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=senior
That's one crazy website by the way... most of the stuff there, I've never even heard before...

Whoa, I just know if it can be mean on a negative connotations, what I mean with senior is experienced person.

[Farabi]

hey !
i am above 50 too
i never thought of myself as a "senior"
you can call me a senior citizen when i fail to remember who you are - lol
at that point, i probably won't care what you call me, or if you call me at all

Your posts make you looks younger.
I think that explain why know everything so much.

[dedndave]

thank you Farabi - now that's a compliment
lol - i do look younger than most guys my age
even my wife says so - she is 19 years younger than i am - lol