Editing Opcode

{{short description|Part of a machine instruction}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Machine code}}
In [[computing]], an '''opcode''' (abbreviated from '''operation code''')<ref name="Barron_1978_Opcode"/><ref name="Chiba_2007"/> is an [[enumeration|enumerated value]] that specifies the operation to be performed. Opcodes are employed in hardware devices such as [[arithmetic logic unit]]s (ALUs), [[central processing units]] (CPUs), and software instruction sets. In ALUs, the opcode is directly applied to circuitry via an input signal bus. In contrast, in CPUs, the opcode is the portion of a [[machine code|machine language]] [[instruction (computer science)|instruction]] that specifies the operation to be performed.

==CPUs==
Opcodes are found in the machine language instructions of CPUs as well as in some [[virtual machine#Process virtual machines|abstract computing machines]]. In CPUs, an opcode may be referred to as an '''instruction machine code''',<ref name="Intel_1973_MCS-4"/> '''instruction code''',<ref name="Intel_1974_MCS-40"/> '''instruction syllable''',<ref name="Jones_1988_CISC"/><ref name="Domagała_2012"/><ref name="Smotherman_2013"/><ref name="Jones_2016_CISC"/> '''instruction parcel,''' or '''opstring'''.<ref name="Schulman_2005"/><ref name="Chiba_2007"/> For any particular processor (which may be a general CPU or a more specialized processing unit), the opcodes are defined by the processor's [[instruction set architecture]] (ISA).<ref name="Hennessy_2017"/> They can be described using an [[opcode table]]. The types of operations may include [[arithmetic]], data copying, [[logical operation]]s, program control, and special instructions (e.g., [[CPUID]]).<ref name="Hennessy_2017"/>

In addition to the opcode, many instructions specify the data (known as [[operand]]s) the operation will act upon, although some instructions may have implicit operands or none.<ref name="Hennessy_2017"/> Some instruction sets have nearly uniform fields for opcode and operand specifiers, whereas others (e.g., [[x86]] architecture) have a less uniform, variable-length structure.<ref name="Hennessy_2017"/><ref name="Mansfield_1983"/> Instruction sets can be extended through opcode prefixes, which add a subset of new instructions made up of existing opcodes following reserved byte sequences.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===Sample opcode table===
This table shows opcodes of a simple 8-bit microprocessor, the [[Intel 8008]] from 1972.

Each opcode is 8 [[bit]]s long. Each is shown as a [[Binary number|binary]] pattern of ones and zeros in the '''Opcode''' column. Up to two additional fields may be embedded into the opcode. Some 3-bit fields are labeled DDD, SSS, CC, and ALU. The SSS (source) and DDD (destination) fields specify one of the eight possible 8008 [[Processor register|registers]] or memory: A, B, C, D, E, H, L, or M. CC specifies a condition that will activate certain JMP, CAL, and RET instructions. ALU specifies one of a possible eight [[arithmetic logic unit]] functions to be performed during an instruction, specifically, add, add with carry, subtract, subtract with borrow, logical AND, logical XOR, logical OR, and compare. The '''X''' in some fields means that either a 1 or 0 can be inserted with [[Don't-care term|no effect]].

The fixed ones and zeros are combined with the parameter fields to build the 8-bit opcode. Additionally, the full instruction might require one or two additional bytes of operands. These are shown in the second major column of the table, labeled "Operands". If no operands are required, the column is filled with a dash (&mdash;).

Since the ones and zeros are difficult to remember, the '''Mnemonic''' column shows a short, easy to remember letter code  that an [[assembly language]] programmer may use to invoke the required opcode.

The '''Description''' column shows the function performed by the microprocessor when it encounters a specific opcode.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!colspan=8| Opcode ||colspan=2| Operands ||rowspan=2| Mnemonic || rowspan=2| Description
|-
! 7 || 6 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 1 || 0 || b2 || b3
|-
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || X || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| HLT ||align=left| Halt
|-
| 0 || 0 ||colspan=3|DDD || 0 || 0 || 0 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| INr ||align=left| DDD ← DDD + 1 (except A and M)
|-
| 0 || 0 ||colspan=3|DDD || 0 || 0 || 1 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| DCr ||align=left| DDD ← DDD - 1 (except A and M)
|-
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| RLC ||align=left| A<sub>1-7</sub> ← A<sub>0-6</sub>; A<sub>0</sub> ← Cy ← A<sub>7</sub>
|-
| 0 || 0 ||colspan=3|CC || 0 || 1 || 1 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| Rcc (RET conditional) ||align=left| If cc true, P ← (stack)
|-
| 0 || 0 ||colspan=3|ALU || 1 || 0 || 0 || ''data'' || &mdash; ||align=left| ADI ACI SUI SBI NDI XRI ORI CPI ''data'' ||align=left| A ← A [ALU operation] data
|-
| 0 || 0 ||colspan=3|N || 1 || 0 || 1 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| RST ''n'' ||align=left| (stack) ← P, P ← N x 8
|-
| 0 || 0 ||colspan=3|DDD || 1 || 1 || 0 || ''data'' || &mdash; ||align=left| LrI ''data'' (Load r with immediate data) ||align=left| DDD ← data
|-
| 0 || 0 || X || X || X || 1 || 1 || 1 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| RET ||align=left| P ← (stack)
|-
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| RRC ||align=left| A<sub>0-6</sub> ← A<sub>1-7</sub>; A<sub>7</sub> ← Cy ← A<sub>0</sub>
|-
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| RAL ||align=left| A<sub>1-7</sub> ← A<sub>0-6</sub>; Cy ← A<sub>7</sub>; A<sub>0</sub> ← Cy
|-
| 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| RAR ||align=left| A<sub>0-6</sub> ← A<sub>1-7</sub>; Cy ← A<sub>0</sub>; A<sub>7</sub> ← Cy
|-
| 0 || 1 ||colspan=3|CC || 0 || 0 || 0 || ''addlo'' || ''addhi'' ||align=left| Jcc ''add'' (JMP conditional)||align=left| If cc true, P ← add
|-
| 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||colspan=3|port || 1 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| INP ''port'' ||align=left| A ← Port (ports 0-7 only)
|-
| 0 || 1 ||colspan=5|port || 1 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| OUT ''port'' ||align=left| Port ← A (ports 8-31 only)
|-
| 0 || 1 ||colspan=3|CC || 0 || 1 || 0 || ''addlo'' || ''addhi'' ||align=left| Ccc ''add'' (CAL conditional)|| align=left| If cc true, (stack) ← P, P ← add
|-
| 0 || 1 || X || X || X || 1 || 0 || 0 || ''addlo'' || ''addhi'' ||align=left| JMP ''add'' ||align=left| P ← add
|-
| 0 || 1 || X || X || X || 1 || 1 || 0 || ''addlo'' || ''addhi'' ||align=left| CAL ''add'' ||align=left| (stack) ← P, P ← add
|-
| 1 || 0 ||colspan=3|ALU ||colspan=3|SSS || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| ADr ACr SUr SBr NDr XRr ORr CPr || align=left| A ← A [ALU operation] SSS
|-
| 1 || 1 ||colspan=3|DDD ||colspan=3|SSS || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| Lds (Load d with s) ||align=left| DDD ← SSS
|-
| 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || &mdash; || &mdash; ||align=left| HLT ||align=left| Halt
|-
! 7 || 6 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 1 || 0 || b2 || b3 || Mnemonic ||  Description
|-
!colspan=13|
|-
!colspan=5|SSS DDD|| 2 || 1 || 0 ||colspan=2|CC ||ALU
|-
|colspan=5| A || 0 || 0 || 0 ||colspan=2|FC, C false ||align=left|ADr ADI (A ← A + arg)
|-
|colspan=5| B || 0 || 0 || 1||colspan=2|FZ, Z false||align=left|ACr ACI (A ← A + arg + Cy)
|-
|colspan=5| C || 0 || 1 || 0||colspan=2|FS, S false ||align=left|SUr SUI (A ← A - arg)
|-
|colspan=5| D || 0 || 1 || 1||colspan=2|FP, P odd ||align=left|SBr SBI (A ← A - arg - Cy)
|-
|colspan=5| E || 1 || 0 || 0||colspan=2|TC, C true ||align=left|NDr NDI (A ← A ∧ arg)
|-
|colspan=5| H || 1 || 0 || 1||colspan=2|TZ, Z true ||align=left|XRr XRI (A ← A ⊻ arg)
|-
|colspan=5| L || 1 || 1 || 0||colspan=2|TS, S true ||align=left|ORr ORI (A ← A ∨ arg)
|-
|colspan=5| M || 1 || 1 || 1||colspan=2|TP, P even ||align=left|CPr CPI (A - arg)
|-
!colspan=5|SSS DDD|| 2 || 1 || 0 ||colspan=2|CC ||ALU
|}

=={{Anchor|SIS}}Software instruction sets==
Opcodes can be found in [[bytecode]]s and other representations intended for execution by software interpreters. These often employ slightly higher-level data types and operations than those found in hardware opcodes but are nevertheless constructed along similar lines. Examples include the byte code found in [[Java class file]]s, which are interpreted by  [[Java virtual machine]]s, the byte code used in [[GNU Emacs]] for compiled [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] code, and NET [[Common Intermediate Language]].<ref name="bytecode"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Computer programming}}
* [[Gadget (machine instruction sequence)]]
* [[Illegal opcode]]
* [[Syllable (computing)]]
* [[Fused operation]]

==References==
{{Reflist|40em|refs=
<ref name="Barron_1978_Opcode">{{cite book |author-first=David William |author-last=Barron |author-link=David W. Barron |editor-first=J. John |editor-last=Floretin |title=Assemblers and Loaders |date=1978 |orig-year=1971, 1969 |edition=3 |publisher=[[Elsevier North-Holland Inc.]] |series=Computer Monographs |publication-place=New York, USA |location=[[University of Southampton]], Southampton, UK |isbn=0-444-19462-2 |lccn=78-19961 |chapter=2.1. Symbolic instructions |page=7}} (xii+100 pages)</ref>
<ref name="Jones_2016_CISC">{{cite web |title=A Minimal CISC |work=Computer Architecture On-Line Collection |author-first=Douglas W. |author-last=Jones |publisher=[[The University of Iowa]], Department of Computer Science |date=2016 |orig-year=2012 |location=Iowa City, USA |url=http://homepage.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/arch/cisc/ |access-date=2016-05-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302190911/http://homepage.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/arch/cisc/ |archive-date=2020-03-02}}</ref>
<ref name="Jones_1988_CISC">{{cite journal |title=A Minimal CISC |author-first=Douglas W. |author-last=Jones<!-- |other=[[The University of Iowa]], Department of Computer Science, Iowa City, USA --> |journal=ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News |publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery]] (ACM) |location=New York, USA |date=June 1988 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=56–63 |doi=10.1145/48675.48684 |s2cid=17280173 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name="Domagała_2012">{{cite book |title=Application of CLP to instruction modulo scheduling for VLIW processors |chapter=7.1.4. Benchmark suite |author-first=Łukasz |author-last=Domagała |publisher=Jacek Skalmierski Computer Studio |date=2012 |isbn=978-83-62652-42-6 |pages=80–83 [83<!-- relevant page -->] |location=Gliwice, Poland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6apNOED26kC |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6apNOED26kC |access-date=2016-05-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302192452/https://books.google.de/books?hl=de&id=e6apNOED26kC&jtp=83 |archive-date=2020-03-02}}</ref>
<ref name="Smotherman_2013">{{cite web |title=Multiple Instruction Issue |author-first=Mark |author-last=Smotherman |publisher=School of Computing, Clemson University |date=2016 |orig-year=2013 |url=https://people.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/330/ilp.txt |access-date=2016-05-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528142545/https://people.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/330/ilp.txt |archive-date=2016-05-28}}</ref>
<ref name="Schulman_2005">{{cite magazine |title=Finding Binary Clones with Opstrings & Function Digests |author-first=Andrew |author-last=Schulman |magazine=[[Dr. Dobb's Journal]] |volume=30 |issue=7 |id=#374 |issn=1044-789X |publisher=[[CMP Media LLC]] |date=2005-07-01 |series=Part I |pages=69–73 |url=http://www.drdobbs.com/finding-binary-clones-with-opstrings-fu/184406152 |access-date=2020-03-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302175401/https://www.drdobbs.com/finding-binary-clones-with-opstrings-fu/184406152 |archive-date=2020-03-02 |postscript=none}}; {{cite magazine |title=Finding Binary Clones with Opstrings & Function Digests |author-first=Andrew |author-last=Schulman |magazine=[[Dr. Dobb's Journal]] |volume=30 |issue=8 |id=#375 |issn=1044-789X |publisher=[[CMP Media LLC]] |date=2005-08-01 |series=Part II |pages=56–61 |url=http://www.drdobbs.com/finding-binary-clones-with-opstrings-fu/184406203 |access-date=2016-05-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302185255/https://www.drdobbs.com/finding-binary-clones-with-opstrings-fu/184406203 |archive-date=2020-03-02 |postscript=none}}; {{cite magazine |title=Finding Binary Clones with Opstrings & Function Digests |author-first=Andrew |author-last=Schulman |magazine=[[CMP Media LLC]] |volume=30 |issue=9 |id=#376 |issn=1044-789X |publisher=[[United Business Media]] |date=2005-09-01 |series=Part III |pages=64–70 |url=http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/finding-binary-clones-with-opstrings-fu/184406247 |access-date=2016-05-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302185646/https://www.drdobbs.com/tools/finding-binary-clones-with-opstrings-fu/184406247?pgno=3 |archive-date=2020-03-02}}</ref>
<ref name="Chiba_2007">{{cite web |title=Javassist, a Java-bytecode translator toolkit |author-first=Shigeru |author-last=Chiba |date=2007 |orig-year=1999 |url=http://www.docjar.org/html/api/javassist/bytecode/InstructionPrinter.java.html |access-date=2016-05-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302185725/http://www.docjar.org/html/api/javassist/bytecode/InstructionPrinter.java.html |archive-date=2020-03-02}}</ref>
<ref name="Hennessy_2017">{{cite book |title=Computer architecture: A quantitative approach |author-last1=Hennessy |author-first1=John L. |author-last2=Patterson |author-first2=David A. |author-last3=Asanović |author-first3=Krste |author-link3=Krste Asanović |author-last4=Bakos |author-first4=Jason D. |author-last5=Colwell |author-first5=Robert P. |author-last6=Bhattacharjee |author-first6=Abhishek |author-last7=Conte |author-first7=Thomas M. |author-last8=Duato |author-first8=José |author-last9=Franklin |author-first9=Diana |author-last10=Goldberg |author-first10=David |author-last11=Jouppi |author-first11=Norman P. |author-last12=Li |author-first12=Sheng |author-last13=Muralimanohar |author-first13=Naveen |author-last14=Peterson |author-first14=Gregory D. |author-last15=Pinkston |author-first15=Timothy M. |author-last16=Ranganathan |author-first16=Parthasarathy |author-last17=Wood |author-first17=David A. |author-last18=Young |author-first18=Cliff |author-last19=Zaky |author-first19=Amr |date=2017-11-23 |edition=6 |publisher=[[Morgan Kaufmann Publishers]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA |isbn=978-0-12811905-1 |oclc=983459758 }}</ref>
<ref name="Mansfield_1983">{{cite book |title=Machine Language For Beginners |chapter=Introduction: Why Machine Language? |author-first=Richard |author-last=Mansfield |date=1983 |series=[[Compute! Books]] |publisher=[[COMPUTE! Publications, Inc.]], [[American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.]]; [[Small System Services, Inc.]] |location=Greensboro, North Carolina, USA |isbn=0-942386-11-6 |edition=1 |url=https://www.atariarchives.org/mlb/index.php |chapter-url=http://www.atariarchives.org/mlb/introduction.php |access-date=2016-05-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213090055/http://www.atariarchives.org/mlb/introduction.php |archive-date=2008-02-13}}</ref>
<ref name="bytecode">{{cite magazine |title=bytecode Definition |series=PC Magazine Encyclopedia |magazine=[[PC Magazine]] |url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=bytecode&i=39108,00.asp |access-date=2015-10-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006015213/http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0%2C2542%2Ct%3Dbytecode%26i%3D39108%2C00.asp |archive-date=6 October 2012 }}</ref>
<ref name="Intel_1973_MCS-4">{{cite book |title=MCS-4 Assembly Language Programming Manual - The INTELLEC 4 Microcomputer System Programming Manual |chapter=Appendix B - Instruction Machine Codes |edition=Preliminary |publisher=[[Intel Corporation]] |date=December 1973 |location=Santa Clara, California, USA |id=MCS-030-1273-1 |pages=B-1 – B-8 |chapter-url=http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/components/intel/MCS4/MCS-4_Assembly_Language_Programming_Manual_Dec73.pdf |access-date=2020-03-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235541/http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/components/intel/MCS4/MCS-4_Assembly_Language_Programming_Manual_Dec73.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-01}}</ref>
<ref name="Intel_1974_MCS-40">{{cite book |title=MCS-40 User's Manual For Logic Designers |chapter=The Functions Of A Computer: Instruction Register And Decoder |publisher=[[Intel Corporation]] |editor-first=Howard A. |editor-last=Raphael |date=November 1974 |location=Santa Clara, California, USA |page=viii |chapter-url=http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/components/intel/MCS40/MCS-40_Users_Manual_Nov74.pdf |access-date=2020-03-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303024244/http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/components/intel/MCS40/MCS-40_Users_Manual_Nov74.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-03 |quote=[…] Each operation that the processor can perform is identified by a unique binary number known as an instruction code. […]}}</ref>
}}


{{X86 assembly topics}}

[[Category:Machine code]]