Two-pager "What you really must know about Masm32"

[jj2007]

For comments and suggestions, keeping in mind that it is addressed to absolute noobs and should not exceed two pages.

[Ghandi]

Just my two cents worth, but i would not be linking to the OllyDbg beta version i'd be sticking with v1.10 until Oleh makes an RC build available. Thats just a trivial thing though, as its a matter of preference which one is used, some people really like v2. The other thing is including masm basic in the page and having MASM32 examples which are actually masm basic examples, because to me when i first found the MASM32 package it was confusing and unweildy for me, being that i was a complete novice. Maybe you could have plain-jane MASM32 examples as well, noting the differences between the two and at the same time pointing out the benefits of the masm basic package as you see them.

Once again, just my two cents, if its rubbish just take it with a grain of salt and forget it :)

HR,
Ghandi

[dedndave]

it would be nice to explain the basic difference between assembling 16-bit and 32-bit code
let them know about the 16-bit linker vs 32-bit linker
tell them what they can and can't do with each (i.e. GUI apps, direct I/O - that kind of thing)

[redskull]

Nice - now the only problem is getting them to read it... ::)

[GregL]

6.14 has no SSE;

6.14 has SSE but no SSE2.

[jj2007]

Nice - now the only problem is getting them to read it... ::)

That is the least problem. About once a day somebody pops up here and asks "can you explain to me why my loop crashes" etc - from now on, you can post a simple read this, search the page for "traps" ;-)

@Gandhi: Thanks, I will reflect how I could better separate "ordinary" Masm32 from MasmBasic. The problem is perhaps that for arriving at your first Hello World in pure Masm, you need a tutorial for QE and batch files. MB runs almost everything without a tailored batch file...

@Dave: Agreed, it should be mentioned. Again, I wonder why so many come here and ask 16-bit questions. Is there any valid reason for that?

@Greg: Thanks, will be corrected.

[dedndave]

a lot of them pick up old books that were written for 16-bit
as we have seen, some instructors are 16-bit coders, so the students get stuck   :P
a simple understanding of some of the differences would be great
it may be a bit over-involved to go to far into segmented addressing for a 2-pager
i think you want to keep most of the focus on 32-bit

[hutch--]

JJ,

It looks good. One thing, for link safety reasons, link directly top http://masm32.com/ as I cannot garrantee that the download page will always have that file name. I have just reloaded a new site design and while I renamed the download page back to the old one, it may not always be that way.

[japheth]

JJ,

I'd prefer that JWasm isn't mentioned in a paper intended for assembly noobies - because, to be honest, I hate this peculiar species.

[oex]

 :bg noobist :naughty:

[jj2007]

I'd prefer that JWasm isn't mentioned in a paper intended for assembly noobies - because, to be honest, I hate this peculiar species.

OK, I'll take it off asap. Also since noobs probably can't cope with JWasm's error reporting quirks.

[jj2007]

Version 2 is online.

[hutch--]

JJ,

Looks better and reads better. I would be inclined to draw the distinction between masm32 and what richmasm/masmbasic is as it may confuse a genuine beginner. Perhaps also explain that your masmbasic project has extra libraries and capacity.

[dedndave]

a couple handy links for beginners...

http://website.masm32.com/iczelion/iczelion.zip
http://website.masm32.com/reference.htm