CPSC 355: Tutorial 4
Control Flow
PhD Student
Fall 2017
Outline
- More ARMv8 instructions
- Control flow (if else, while loops)
- Macro preprocessor
ARMv8
Registers keep track of results and store data:
- 31 general purpose 64 bit registers x0-x30 (use w0-w30 for the lower 32 bits of a register).
- 64 bit stack pointer sp (and wsp)
- 64 bit zero register xzr (and wzr)
- 64 pit pc (program counter) address of current instruction
- x0-x7 are used to pass variables to a function and return results
- x9-x15 are temporary registers
- x19 - x28 are callee-saved registers
- x29 is the frame pointer, x30 is the link register (keeps track of return addresses)
Only ever expect x19-x28 to be saved after you call a function, the rest may be trashed
ARMv8
LDR: Load register
LDR xd, =label // Load immediate
xd = address of label;
LDR xd, [xn] // Read value at memory
xd = *xn;
ARMv8
STR: Store register
STR xn, [xd] // Write value to memory
*xd = xn;
ARMv8
CMP: Compares two operands, sets flags depending on the result
cmp xn, xm
sets various flags based on the comparison between xn and xm
ARMv8
B.CC: Compares two operands, sets flags depending on the result
b.cc label
jumps to the label based on the condition flags currently set
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| b.eq | branch if equal |
| b.ne | branch if not equal |
| b.gt | branch greater than |
| b.ge | branch greater than or equal |
| b.lt | branch less than |
| b.le | branch less than or equal |
Use cmp before this instruction to set flags
Example
// File: scanfexample.s
// Author: Joshua Horacsek
// Date: September 27th, 2017
//
// Description:
// Demonstrates using scanf, and the ldr pseudo-instruction
input_str: .string "%d"
output_str: .string "Your integer: %d\n"
.balign 4 // Makes sure the following instruction's address is
// divisible by 4, i.e. aligned to the word length of
// the machine
.global main // Enusre that the "main" label is visible to the linker
main:
stp x29, x30, [sp, -16]! // Save FP and LR to the stack
mov x29, sp // Set FP to the stack addr
ldr x0, =input_str // Set arg1 to the address of input_str
ldr x1, =temp // set arg2 to the address of temp
bl scanf // scanf("%d", temp);
ldr x1, =temp // x1 = temp;
ldr x19, [x1] // x19 = *x1;
ldr x0, =output_str // Set arg1 to the address of output_str
mov x1, x19 // Set arg2 to x19
bl printf // Call printf("Your integer: %d\n", x19)
ldp x29, x30, [sp], 16 // Restore the stack
ret // return to OS
.data
temp: .word 1ARMv8 Control Flow
Obviously we need to control the flow of execution in order to make more sophisticated programs
- For loops (pre and post testing)
- If construct
- If-else construct
ARMv8 Loops
Pre-test loops (in C):
int i = 0;
while(i < 20) {
printf("i = %d\n", i);
i++;
} mov x19, 0 // Initialize variable
b loop_test // branch to the test
loop_top:
ldr x0, =printf_string // "i = %d\n"
mov x1, x19
bl printf // printf("i = %d", x19)
add x19, x19, 1 // i++
loop_test:
cmp x19, 20 // i < 20?
b.lt loop_top // if so, loop
Pre-test loops (in assembly):
ARMv8 Loops
Pre-test loops (in C):
int i = 0;
while(i < 20) {
printf("i = %d\n", i);
i++;
}for(int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
printf("i = %d\n", i);
}
For loops are also "pre-test" loops
These loops do exactly the same thing
ARMv8 Loops
Post-test loops (in C):
int i = 0;
do {
printf("i = %d\n", i);
i++;
} while(x <= 20); mov x19, 0 // Initialize variable
loop_top:
ldr x0, =printf_string // "i = %d\n"
mov x1, x19
bl printf // printf("i = %d", x19)
add x19, x19, 1 // i++
loop_test:
cmp x19, 20 // i <= 20?
b.le loop_top // if so, loop
Post-test loops (in ASM):
This very slight optimization saves an instruction.
ARMv8
The if construct:
if(a > b) {
result = a - b
} cmp x19, x20 // x19 = a, x20 = b
b.le next
subs x21, x19, x20
next: // more instructions ..
Equivalent ASM:
ARMv8
The if-else construct:
if(a > b) {
result = a - b
} else {
result = b - a
} cmp x19, x20 // x19 = a, x20 = b
b.le else
subs x21, x19, x20
b next
else:
subs x21, x20, x19
next: // more instructions ..
Equivalent ASM:
M4 Preprocessor
Macro preprocessor, similar to the pre-processor that C has (anything with a # in C is a macro command)
Invoke it on the command line via:
m4 myfile.asm > myfile.s
gcc myfile.s -o myfileIt allows us to set aliases for registers, via define. For example we can do:
define(my_var_r, x19)M4 Preprocessor
// File: scanfexample.asm
// Author: Joshua Horacsek
// Date: September 27th, 2017
//
// Description:
// Demonstrates using scanf, and the ldr pseudo-instruction
// Define aliases to some registers
define(input_r, x19)
input_str: .string "%d"
output_str: .string "Your integer: %d\n"
.balign 4 // Makes sure the following instruction's address is
// divisible by 4, i.e. aligned to the word length of
// the machine
.global main // Enusre that the "main" label is visible to the linker
main:
stp x29, x30, [sp, -16]! // Save FP and LR to the stack
mov x29, sp // Set FP to the stack addr
ldr x0, =input_str // Set arg1 to the address of input_str
ldr x1, =temp // set arg2 to the address of temp
bl scanf // scanf("%d", temp);
ldr x1, =temp // x1 = temp;
ldr input_r, [x1] // input_r = *x1;
ldr x0, =output_str // Set arg1 to the address of output_str
mov x1, input_r // Set arg2 to input_r
bl printf // Call printf("Your integer: %d\n", input_r)
ldp x29, x30, [sp], 16 // Restore the stack
ret // return to OS
.data
temp: .word 1ARMv8
A more complicated example:
#include<stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv) {
int number = 0, exponent = 0, result = 0;
puts("Enter a number:");
scanf("%d", &number);
puts("Enter an exponent:");
scanf("%d", &exponent);
if(exponent <= 0) {
puts("Invalid exponent");
} else {
result = number;
for(int i = 1; i < exponent; i++) {
result *= number;
}
printf("%d^%d = %d\n", number, exponent, result);
}
}ARMv8
Assembly version
// File: expexample.asm
// Author: Joshua Horacsek
// Date: September 27th, 2017
//
// Description:
// Takes a number and an exponent, and returns the result
// of taking the number and raising it to the exponent
define(number_r, x19)
define(exponent_r, x20)
define(result_r, x21)
define(i_r, x22)
.data
temp: .word 1
.text
ent_num_str: .string "Enter a number:"
ent_exp_str: .string "Enter an exponent:"
inv_exp_str: .string "Invalid exponent"
output_str: .string "%ld^%ld=%ld\n"
scan_str: .string "%ld"
.balign 4
.global main
main:
stp x29, x30, [sp, -16]! // Save FP and LR to the stack
mov x29, sp // Set FP to the stack addr
mov number_r, 0 // Initialize registers to known values
mov exponent_r, 0
mov result_r, 0
ARMv8
Continued...
ldr x0, =ent_num_str // Set arg 1 as ent_num_str
bl puts // puts(x0);
ldr x0, =scan_str // Set arg 1 to addr of scan str
ldr x1, =temp // Set arg 2 to addr of temp
bl scanf // scanf("%d", temp);
ldr x1, =temp
ldr number_r, [x1] // number_r = *temp
ldr x0, =ent_exp_str // Set arg 1 to addr of ent_exp_str
bl puts // puts(ent_exp_str);
ldr x0, =scan_str // Set arg 1 to addr of scan str
ldr x1, =temp // Set arg 2 to addr of temp
bl scanf // scanf("%d", temp);
ldr x1, =temp
ldr exponent_r, [x1] // exponent_r = *temp
cmp exponent_r, xzr // compare the exponent to the zero reg
b.gt else // if exponent_r <= 0, continue
ldr x0, =inv_exp_str
bl puts // puts(inv_exp_str)
b exit // Skip to the end
else:
mov i_r, 1 // i_r = 1
mov result_r, number_r // result_r = number_r
ARMv8
Continued...
b loop_test // Do the loop test before all else
loop_top:
mul result_r, result_r, number_r // result_r *= number_r
add i_r, i_r, 1 // i_r++
loop_test: cmp i_r, exponent_r // compare i_r, exponent_r
b.lt loop_top // if i_r < exponent_r, continue looping the top of the loop
ldr x0, =output_str // Arg 1 = addr of output_str
mov x1, number_r // Arg 2 = number_r
mov x2, exponent_r // Arg 3 = exponent_r
mov x3, result_r // Arg 4 = result_r
bl printf
exit: ldp x29, x30, [sp], 16 // Restore the stack
ret // return to OS
To compile
m4 expexample.asm > expexample.s
gcc expexample.s -o expexampleNext Day
Work period, bring your questions.
CPSC 355: Tutorial 4
By Joshua Horacsek
