Let's imagine that we write a C program, and run it on the machine.
Well, hang on a second. C code cannot possibly be directly deciphered by the CPU; it must be converted into machine language. So, we understand that on modern systems we will have a toolchain installed – this includes the compiler, linker, library objects, and various other tools. We compile and link the C source code, converting it into an executable format that can be run on the system.
The processor Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) – documents the machine's instruction formats, the addressing schemes it supports, and its register model. In fact, CPU Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) release a document that describes how the machine works; this document ...
