Asm

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The reserved word asm starts a frame of inline assembly code.

 1program asmDemo(input, output, stderr);
 2
 3// The $asmMode directive informs the compiler
 4// which syntax is used in asm-blocks.
 5// Alternatives are 'att' (AT&T syntax) and 'direct'.
 6{$asmMode intel}
 7
 8var
 9	n, m: longint;
10begin
11	n := 42;
12	m := -7;
13	writeLn('n = ', n, '; m = ', m);
14	
15	// instead of declaring another temporary variable
16	// and writing "tmp := n; n := m; m := tmp;":
17	asm
18		mov eax, n  // eax := n
19		// xchg can only operate at most on one memory address
20		xchg eax, m // swaps values in eax and at m
21		mov n, eax  // n := eax (holding the former m value)
22	// an array of strings after the asm-block closing 'end'
23	// tells the compiler which registers have changed
24	// (you don't wanna mess with the compiler's notion
25	// which registers mean what)
26	end ['eax'];
27	
28	writeLn('n = ', n, '; m = ', m);
29end.

In order to maintain portability between platforms (i.e. your code still compiles for many targets), while optimizing for specific targets, you want to set up conditional compilation:

 1program sign(input, output, stderr);
 2
 3type
 4	signumCodomain = -1..1;
 5
 6{ returns the sign of an integer }
 7function signum({$ifNDef CPUx86_64} const {$endIf} x: longint): signumCodomain;
 8{$ifDef CPUx86_64} // ============= optimized implementation
 9assembler;
10{$asmMode intel}
11asm
12	xor rax, rax                  // ensure result is not wrong
13	                              // due to any residue
14	
15	test x, x                     // x ≟ 0
16	setnz al                      // al ≔ ¬ZF
17	
18	sar x, 63                     // propagate sign-bit through reg.
19	cmovs rax, x                  // if SF then rax ≔ −1
20end;
21{$else} // ========================== default implementation
22begin
23	// This is what math.sign virtually does.
24	// The compiled code requires _two_ cmp instructions, though. 
25	if x > 0 then
26	begin
27		signum := 1;
28	end
29	else if x < 0 then
30	begin
31		signum := -1;
32	end
33	else
34	begin
35		signum := 0;
36	end;
37end;
38{$endIf}
39
40// M A I N =================================================
41var
42	x: longint;
43begin
44	readLn(x);
45	writeLn(signum(x));
46end.

As you can see, you can implement whole routines in assembly language, by adding the assembler modifier and writing asm instead of begin for the implementation block.


see also

general

relevant compiler directives

special tasks