MS VisualStudio + HLA + MASM = how to make it work together ?

[alexibm]

Hi !
First of all, I want to thank Randall Hyde for his assembly book and supporting software and great individuals who help beginners like me.

Currently, I am taking Computer Science II course in college(semester just started), basically it is second course in C++. Professor is pushing a lot more than just C++, he is also making us look into how "the magic" happens. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and learn the Assembly Language.

My question basically boils down to: How to make MS Visual Studio 2008, Randall's HAL(and his book) and MASH work together ?

Thanks !

[hutch--]

Hi Alex,

Welcome on board. Its a pretty wide question but give this a try. VC already has MASM as a component but its built in support is poor. Randy Hyde's book can function as technical data at the concept level as its notation is not compatible with MASM but it will contain a lot of useful technical data. You can write seperate modules in MASM and link them into a C/C++ program but you must prototype it correctly using whatever is the appropriate EXTERN operator. C can handle both C and STDCALL and MASM can be written using both so just make sure any MASM code you write matches the way you call it from C.

Check out you CL.EXE option to output ASM code for each module you write in C. The output is messy looking but it can be read with a bit of practice after you clean up the mess.

[Magicle]

There are plenty of tutorials on how to combine C++ and ASM codes, you should Google it  :wink

[GregL]

One thing you need to know, HLA != Assembly Language.  HLA is more of a high-level language.

I think if you dropped that book, and used Visual C/C++, which comes with MASM, you do fine.

There are examples in this forum: Assembler With Microsoft Visual C

Do you want to write C/C++ with MASM modules or just plain MASM programs?

Good luck and have fun.

[GregL]

VC already has MASM as a component but its built in support is poor.

Once you get a MASM project set up correctly in VC, it works very well. Edit, Assemble, Link, Run, Debug all from Visual Studio. The hard part is getting the project set up correctly. That area could use a lot of improvements.

I have been doing this with my 64-bit MASM code because (once you get it set up) it all works so well.