From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI,
	RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
Received: (qmail 4174 invoked from network); 3 Nov 2020 22:00:31 -0000
Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53)
  by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 3 Nov 2020 22:00:31 -0000
Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112)
	id 1B0EF9D61D; Wed,  4 Nov 2020 08:00:30 +1000 (AEST)
Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1])
	by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C6A8B9D5C3;
	Wed,  4 Nov 2020 07:59:32 +1000 (AEST)
Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112)
 id D43E49D5C3; Wed,  4 Nov 2020 07:59:29 +1000 (AEST)
X-Greylist: delayed 588 seconds by postgrey-1.36 at minnie.tuhs.org;
 Wed, 04 Nov 2020 07:59:29 AEST
Received: from h4.fbrelay.privateemail.com (h4.fbrelay.privateemail.com
 [131.153.2.45])
 by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 203F59D5BE
 for <tuhs@tuhs.org>; Wed,  4 Nov 2020 07:59:29 +1000 (AEST)
Received: from MTA-07-4.privateemail.com (mta-07.privateemail.com
 [198.54.127.57])
 (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits))
 (No client certificate requested)
 by h3.fbrelay.privateemail.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 66DAB8008E
 for <tuhs@tuhs.org>; Tue,  3 Nov 2020 16:49:40 -0500 (EST)
Received: from MTA-07.privateemail.com (localhost [127.0.0.1])
 by MTA-07.privateemail.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id CA7D460046;
 Tue,  3 Nov 2020 16:49:37 -0500 (EST)
Received: from localhost (unknown [10.20.151.244])
 by MTA-07.privateemail.com (Postfix) with ESMTPA id AE61060045;
 Tue,  3 Nov 2020 21:49:36 +0000 (UTC)
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2020 13:49:27 -0800
From: Anthony Martin <ality@pbrane.org>
To: Robert Clausecker <fuz@fuz.su>
Message-ID: <20201103214927.GA1091@alice>
References: <20201102213254.GA39017@fuz.su>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
In-Reply-To: <20201102213254.GA39017@fuz.su>
X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV using ClamSMTP
Subject: Re: [TUHS] Plan 9 assembly syntax design history?
X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26
Precedence: list
List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list <tuhs.minnie.tuhs.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/options/tuhs>,
 <mailto:tuhs-request@minnie.tuhs.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://minnie.tuhs.org/pipermail/tuhs/>
List-Post: <mailto:tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org>
List-Help: <mailto:tuhs-request@minnie.tuhs.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tuhs>,
 <mailto:tuhs-request@minnie.tuhs.org?subject=subscribe>
Cc: tuhs@tuhs.org
Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org
Sender: "TUHS" <tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org>

Robert Clausecker <fuz@fuz.su> once said:
> While I am aware of Rob's talk [1] on the basic design ideas
> and have read both the Plan 9 [2] and Go [3] assembler
> manuals, many aspects of the design (such as the strange way
> to specify static data) are unclear and seem poorly
> documented.
>
> [...]
>
> [1]: https://talks.golang.org/2016/asm.slide
> [2]: https://9p.io/sys/doc/asm.html
> [3]: https://golang.org/doc/asm

Note that the Plan 9 compilers do not actually generate
machine code. They build an intermediate abstract object
code that the linkers then translate into machine code.

The syntax used by the assemblers is essentially a textual
representation of that intermediate code. If you want to
understand the design and it's idiosyncrasies, focus on the
latter.

Cheers,
  Anthony