Editing High-level assembler

{{about||the language by Randall Hyde|High Level Assembly|the IBM product|IBM High Level Assembler}}
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A '''high-level assembler''' in [[computing]] is an [[Assembly language#Assembler|assembler]] for [[assembly language]] that incorporate features found in a [[high-level programming language]].

The earliest high-level assembler was probably Burroughs' [[Executive Systems Problem Oriented Language]] (ESPOL) in about 1960, which provided an [[ALGOL]]-like syntax around explicitly-specified Burroughs [[B5000]] machine instructions.{{Disputed inline|ESPOL seems to be more than just an assembler|date=May 2024}} This was followed by [[Niklaus Wirth]]'s [[PL360]] in 1968; this replicated the Burroughs facilities, with which he was familiar, on an IBM [[System/360]]. More recent high-level assemblers are [[Borland]]'s [[Turbo Assembler]] (TASM), [[Netwide Assembler]] (NASM), [[Microsoft]]'s [[Microsoft Macro Assembler|Macro Assembler]] (MASM), [[IBM]]'s [[IBM High Level Assembler|High Level Assembler]] (HLASM) for [[z/Architecture]] systems, Alessandro Ghignola's Linoleum, [[Cosmos (operating system)#X#|X#]] used in Cosmos and Ziron.{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}}

High-level assemblers typically provide instructions that directly assemble [[Bijective|one-to-one]] into low-level [[machine code]] as in any assembler, plus control statements such as IF, WHILE, REPEAT...UNTIL, and FOR, macros, and other enhancements. This allows the use of high-level control statement abstractions wherever maximal speed or minimal space is not essential; low-level statements that assemble directly to machine code can be used to produce the fastest or shortest code. The end result is assembly [[source code]] that is far more readable than standard assembly code while preserving the efficiency inherent with using assembly language.

High-level assemblers generally provide information-hiding facilities and the ability to call functions and procedures using a high-level-like syntax (i.e., the assembler automatically produces code to push parameters on the [[call stack]] rather than the programmer having to manually write the code to do this).

High-level assemblers also provide data abstractions normally found in high-level languages. Examples include: [[data structure]]s, [[Union type|unions]], [[Class (computer programming)|classes]], and [[Set (abstract data type)|sets]]. Some high-level assemblers (e.g., [[TASM]] and [[High Level Assembly]] (HLA)) support [[object-oriented programming]].

==References==
* {{cite book |author-first=David |author-last=Salomon |editor-first=Ian D. |editor-last=Chivers |title=Assemblers and Loaders |date=February 1993 |orig-year=1992 |edition=1 |series=Ellis Horwood Series In Computers And Their Applications |publisher=[[Ellis Horwood Limited]] / [[Simon & Schuster International Group]] |location=California State University, Northridge, California, USA |publication-place=Chicester, West Sussex, UK |isbn=0-13-052564-2 |url=http://www.davidsalomon.name/assem.advertis/asl.pdf |access-date=2008-10-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323010358/http://www.davidsalomon.name/assem.advertis/asl.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-23}} [http://www.davidsalomon.name/assem.advertis/AssemAd.html][https://www.scribd.com/doc/7326575/Assembly-Language] (xiv+294+4 pages) (NB. Presents definitions and examples of older high-level assemblers.)
* {{cite book|title=The Art of Assembly Language|author=[[Randall Hyde]]|url=http://www.nostarch.com/assembly2.htm|isbn=978-1-5932-7207-4|edition=2nd|year=2010}}

==External links==
* ''HAL70 '', [[Hamish Dewar]] [https://gtoal.com/history.dcs.ed.ac.uk/archive/docs/CSRs/CSR-29-78-HAL70.pdf] A high level assembly language for Interdata series 70 mini-computers.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111110073431/http://homepage.mac.com/randyhyde/webster.cs.ucr.edu/index.html Webster site with information and links on HLA and assembler]

[[Category:Assemblers|*High-level]]
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