NASM Assembly Quick Reference Guide - 32-Bit

Sources

Registers (Quick list:)

7 Essential Registers

Registers

Usage

EAX ECX EDX

Use and overwrite

EBX ESP EBP ESI EDI

Preserved. You must preserve the values and return them
to the registers when your program exits

Instructions

Quick List (useful commands)

Command

Direction

mov x, y

x ← y

and x, y

x ← x and y

or x, y

x ← x or y

xor x, y

x ← x xor y

add x, y

x ← x + y

sub x, y

x ← x - y

inc x

x ← x + 1

dec x

x ← x - 1

syscall

Invoke an operating system routine

Note

Take note of the specific registers in the table. The operation stores the result in register EAX, but uses other registers.

Quick List (Multiplication and Division)

Command

Stored Result

Notes

mul eax

eax ← eax * eax

Results go to EAX.

mul x

eax ← eax * x

Multiplies EAX with the value in the other register.

div ecx

eax ← eax / ecx
edx ← remainder

Divides EAX by the value in the register by EAX.
You must clear EDX before the operation.

Detailed List

Mnemonic

Purpose

Examples

mov dest, src

  • Move data between registers,

  • load immediate data into registers,

  • move data between registers and memory.

 
; Load constant into eax
mov eax, 4
; Copy eax into ebx
mov ebx, eax
; Copy ebx to memory
; address 123
mov ebx, [123]

push src

  • Insert a value onto the stack.

  • Useful for passing arguments, saving registers, etc.

push ebp

pop dest

Remove topmost value from the stack. Equivalent to

  • mov dest,[esp]

  • add esp,4

pop ebp

 
esp, 4
esp, 8
esp, 12

  • Pop stack one time

  • Pop stack two time

  • Pop stack three times

 
; Pop the last value
;from the stack
esp, 4

call func

  • Push the address of the next instruction
    and start executing func.

call print_int

ret

  • Pop the return program counter, and jump there.

  • Ends a subroutine.

ret

add src, dest

  • src = src + dest

 
; Add ebx to eax
add eax,ebx

mul src

  • Multiply eax and src as unsigned
    integers, and put the result in eax.

  • High 32 bits of product go into eax.

 
;Multiply eax by ebx
mul ebx

jmp label

  • Goto the instruction label:.

  • Skips anything else in the way.

 
jmp post_mem
 ...
post_mem:

cmp a,b

  • Compare two values.

  • Sets flags that are used by the conditional jumps (below).

cmp eax, 10

 
jl label
jle label
je label
jge label
jg label
jne label
jz label
jnz label

Goto label if previous comparison was:

  • jl <

  • jle <=

  • je =

  • jge >=

  • jg >

  • jne !=

  • jz == 0

  • jnz != 0

 
cmp eax, 10

; Jump if eax < 10
jl loop_start

cmovl a, b
cmovg a, b

Move if the previous comparison was:

  • cmov1 <

  • cmovg >

 
cmp eax, 10

; eax = ecx  if eax  < 10
cmovl eax, ecx

Registers 8-32 bit (Full List)

Full list of ordinary integer x86 registers.

  • Scratch registers any function is allowed to overwrite and use for anything you want without asking anybody.

  • Preserved registers have to be put back (“save” the register) if you use them.

32-bit Register List

Notes

Type

32-bit int

16-bit short

8-bit char

Values are returned from
functions in this register.

scratch

eax

ax

ah and al

Typical scratch register. Some
instructions also use it as a
counter.

scratch

ecx

cx

ch and cl

Scratch register.

scratch

edx

dx

dh and dl

Preserved register: don’t use
it without saving it!

preserved

ebx

bx

bh and bl

The stack pointer. Points to
the top of the stack

preserved

esp

sp

Preserved register. Sometimes
used to store the old value
of the stack pointer, or the
“base”.

preserved

ebp

bp

Preserved register. You can
use it, but you need to save
and restore it.

scratch

esi

si

Preserved register. You can
use it, but you need to save
and restore it.

scratch

edi

di