Introduction to 80x86 Assembly Language and Computer Architecture, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 6

Procedures

The 80×86 architecture enables implementation of procedures that are similar to those in a high-level language. In fact, 80×86 procedures can be called from high-level language programs or can call high-level language procedures. There are three main concepts involved: (1) how to transfer control from a calling program to a procedure and back, (2) how to pass parameter values to a procedure and results back from the procedure, and (3) how to write procedure code that is independent of the calling program. In addition, sometimes a procedure must allocate local variable space. The hardware stack is used to accomplish each of these jobs. This chapter begins with a discussion of the 80×86 stack. Sections 6.1 to 6.3 cover operations ...