Assembly Nights

Assembly Nights describes a self-directed effort to learn x86 assembly by working late at night on a 14-year-old Asus eeePC running Alpine Linux. The writer’s interest in systems programming, sparked by Zig, led to a long-standing goal: understand Richard Jones’s JonesForth and port it from GNU assembler syntax to NASM. After completing a beginner NASM tutorial, the writer found the port far more challenging than expected, especially translating essential macros. Progress is slow, but solving individual problems has made the work rewarding.

The project’s setup is part of the learning method: the small, distraction-light laptop is configured to open the code, Vim, and GDB quickly, making it easy to begin even when tired. When a self-imposed deadline led to rushed translation, the writer chose instead to verify each instruction, learn GNU Screen, and record debugging sessions as project logs. The central argument is that finishing the port is less important than learning the tools and enjoying sustained progress. The writer contrasts this with projects that often lose momentum, noting that this one offers dependable forward movement whenever time is spent on it. Resources include the NASM tutorial, GDB documentation and book, x86 instruction references, and an assembly programming book. After the port, the writer plans to continue with Forth.