as: i386-Variations
9.15.3.1 AT&T Syntax versus Intel Syntax
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'as' now supports assembly using Intel assembler syntax.
'.intel_syntax' selects Intel mode, and '.att_syntax' switches back to
the usual AT&T mode for compatibility with the output of 'gcc'. Either
of these directives may have an optional argument, 'prefix', or
'noprefix' specifying whether registers require a '%' prefix. AT&T
System V/386 assembler syntax is quite different from Intel syntax. We
mention these differences because almost all 80386 documents use Intel
syntax. Notable differences between the two syntaxes are:
* AT&T immediate operands are preceded by '$'; Intel immediate
operands are undelimited (Intel 'push 4' is AT&T 'pushl $4'). AT&T
register operands are preceded by '%'; Intel register operands are
undelimited. AT&T absolute (as opposed to PC relative) jump/call
operands are prefixed by '*'; they are undelimited in Intel syntax.
* AT&T and Intel syntax use the opposite order for source and
destination operands. Intel 'add eax, 4' is 'addl $4, %eax'. The
'source, dest' convention is maintained for compatibility with
previous Unix assemblers. Note that 'bound', 'invlpga', and
instructions with 2 immediate operands, such as the 'enter'
instruction, do _not_ have reversed order. i386-Bugs.
* In AT&T syntax the size of memory operands is determined from the
last character of the instruction mnemonic. Mnemonic suffixes of
'b', 'w', 'l' and 'q' specify byte (8-bit), word (16-bit), long
(32-bit) and quadruple word (64-bit) memory references. Intel
syntax accomplishes this by prefixing memory operands (_not_ the
instruction mnemonics) with 'byte ptr', 'word ptr', 'dword ptr' and
'qword ptr'. Thus, Intel 'mov al, byte ptr FOO' is 'movb FOO, %al'
in AT&T syntax.
In 64-bit code, 'movabs' can be used to encode the 'mov'
instruction with the 64-bit displacement or immediate operand.
* Immediate form long jumps and calls are 'lcall/ljmp $SECTION,
$OFFSET' in AT&T syntax; the Intel syntax is 'call/jmp far
SECTION:OFFSET'. Also, the far return instruction is 'lret
$STACK-ADJUST' in AT&T syntax; Intel syntax is 'ret far
STACK-ADJUST'.
* The AT&T assembler does not provide support for multiple section
programs. Unix style systems expect all programs to be single
sections.