Assembly in Xcode?

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Assembly in Xcode?

I was wondering if Xcode is capable of running MIPS32 assembly programs. I am stuck using "SPIM" ( http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/spim.html ) right now, but would rather use Xcode.

If not, does anyone know of any other Mac programs that would allow me to run MIPS32 programs?

Thanks!

~ Chris

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Nov 1, 2007 8:55 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 1, 2007 9:17 AM in response to ciigma

Do you mean "Can I run an assembly language that is not the assembly language of the chip I'm actually running the program on?"
The answer is no.

Assembly language is specific to the actual hardware of the chip itself. Not only can you not run MIPS chip assembly on any chip that is not MIPS you can't even run previously working PPC assembly on the Intel machine or vice-versa. Assembly is, by definition, linked to very instruction set of the chip itself because you are invoking those instructions and registers directly.

If I missed your question please elaborate,

=Tod

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Answer 2

ciigma Author

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Nov 1, 2007 9:21 AM in response to Tod Kuykendall

That's exactly what I meant!
I guess I'm stuck using SPIM then...

Do you happen to know the Assembly language of the new intel macbook pro's? (core duo)

Thank you for the quick answer!

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Answer 3

Nov 1, 2007 9:40 AM in response to ciigma

All intel chips use some variation of the x86 programming language. Each chip in the evolution has slightly different hardware set-up and special co-processors (MMX, SSE, etc.) but basic x86 should always work.

The core 2 series is 64 bits so it uses x86-64 and has an SSE3 SIMD unit in addition. There is an overview of x86 assembly on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86assemblylanguage

Is there some reason you want/need to program in assembly? It's not so much how these are done these days.

=Tod

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Answer 4

ciigma Author

Level 1

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Nov 1, 2007 10:08 AM in response to Tod Kuykendall

I'm currently taking a Computer Architecture and Organization course at the University of Central Florida. Part of the course is learning the MIPS32 Assembly language... Unfortunately, because I have a Mac, I'm having issues using the software (SPIM) we need to run our programs. So I was just wondering if there were any alternatives...

I have no intention of using Assembly later 🙂 ... well, I have used it to program graphing calculators, but that is about it!

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Nov 1, 2007 1:06 PM in response to ciigma

It was either Assembly or COBOL when I was in school!
And one reason was to get code to run on a 32,326 byte (32k) IBM/360 😉

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Answer 6

Nov 17, 2007 8:20 AM in response to ciigma

i am in the same situation you are. i had no luck finding a way to compile xcode on an intel mac so i was forced to use boot camp and install windows xp for all my ASM needs. thats the only suggestion i can give.

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