Chapter 3.8, Problem 3.40PP

Explanation of Solution

Given assembly code:

fix_set_diag:

void fix_set_diag(fix_matrix A, int val)

A in %rdi, val in %rsi

movl $0,%eax

.L13:

movl %esi, (%rdi, %rax)

addq $68, %rax

cmpq $1088, %rax

jne .L13

rep;ret

Load Effective Address:

• The load effective address instruction “leaq” is a variant of “movq” instruction.
• The instruction form reads memory to a register, but memory is not been referenced at all.
• The first operand of instruction is a memory reference; the effective address is been copied to destination.
• The pointers could be generated for later references of memory.
• The common arithmetic operations could be described compactly using this instruction.
• The operand in destination should be a register.

Data movement instructions:

• The different instructions are been grouped as “instruction classes”.
• The instructions in a class performs same operation but with different sizes of operand.
• The “Mov” class denotes data movement instructions that copy data from a source location to a destination.
• The class has 4 instructions that includes:
  • movb:
    • It copies data from a source location to a destination.
    • It denotes an instruction that operates on 1 byte data size.
  • movw: 
    • It copies data from a source location to a destination.
    • It denotes an instruction that operates on 2 bytes data size.
  • movl:
    • It copies data from a source location to a destination.
    • It denotes an instruction that operates on 4 bytes data size.
  • movq:
    • It copies data from a source location to a destination.
    • It denotes an instruction that operates on 8 bytes data size.

Comparison Instruction:

• The “CMP” instruction sets condition code according to differences of their two operands.
• The working pattern is same as “SUB” instruction but it sets condition code without updating destinations.
• The zero flag is been set if two operands are equal.
• The ordering relations between operands could be determined using other flags.
• The “cmpl” instruction compares values that are double word...