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In computer science, a pointer is an object in many programming languages that stores a memory address. This can be that of another value located in computer memory, or in some cases, that of memory-mapped computer hardware. A pointer references a location in memory, and obtaining the value stored at that location is known as dereferencing the ...
x86 word, minimum size of short and int in C −32,768 to +32,767 0 to 65,535 4 bytes 32 bits x86 double word, minimum size of long in C, actual size of int for most modern C compilers, [8] pointer for IA-32-compatible processors −2,147,483,648 to +2,147,483,647 0 to 4,294,967,295 8 bytes 64 bits
Pointer formats are known as near, far, or huge. Near pointers are 16-bit offsets within the reference segment, i.e. DS for data and CS for code. They are the fastest pointers, but are limited to point to 64 KB of memory (to the associated segment of the data type). Near pointers can be held in registers (typically SI and DI).
A function prologue typically does the following actions if the architecture has a base pointer (also known as frame pointer) and a stack pointer: Pushes current base pointer onto the stack, so it can be restored later. Value of base pointer is set to the address of stack pointer (which is pointed to the top of the stack) so that the base ...
In many programming environments for C and C-derived languages on 64-bit machines, int variables are still 32 bits wide, but long integers and pointers are 64 bits wide. These are described as having an LP64 data model , which is an abbreviation of "Long, Pointer, 64".
x86 assembly language is a family of low-level programming languages that are used to produce object code for the x86 class of processors. These languages provide backward compatibility with CPUs dating back to the Intel 8008 microprocessor, introduced in April 1972.
The table below compares basic information about instruction set architectures. Notes: Usually the number of registers is a power of two, e.g. 8, 16, 32. In some cases a hardwired-to-zero pseudo-register is included, as "part" of register files of architectures, mostly to simplify indexing modes. The column "Registers" only counts the integer ...
Here is a simple example of index register use in assembly language pseudo-code that sums a 100 entry array of 4-byte words: Clear_accumulator Load_index 400,index2 //load 4*array size into index register 2 (index2) loop_start : Add_word_to_accumulator array_start,index2 //Add to AC the word at the address (array_start + index2) Branch_and_decrement_if_index_not_zero loop_start,4,index2 //loop ...