Assembly language enables the programmer to control the flow of program execution. This allows the programmer to determine when the program should stop, jump to a specified function, or branch to a specified instruction and finally to set up variables, labels and call functions. As a result, the assembly language can be described as a means to control the execution flow and to provide a more complete program solution.
Assembly language provides better performance than the code generated using the C programming language. This is because it allows programmers to generate code that uses the least amount of memory and registers to implement various functions. Moreover, the code generated by assembly language can run faster and can efficiently manipulate various data structures such as arrays, linked lists and stacks.
The benefits of assembly programming are particularly important to the developers of large scale programs. For example, in large applications such as web servers, operating systems, video game consoles and personal computers, developers usually require large amounts of memory to store the data and execute the program. With assembly language, programmers can write a program that requires less memory but is also much more efficient to use. Furthermore, this approach also enables the programmers to control the size of the program.
Assembly language provides programmers with a powerful debugging tool that is more effective than the C compiler. Because of this feature, programmers can debug their programs with greater confidence. Moreover, since assembly language can compile quickly, it enables the programmers to have a fast development cycle.
Assembly language is also easier to learn than C programming. Since it is a high-level programming, the programmer need not worry about understanding complex syntax rules and syntax of object-oriented programming. This makes it a good choice for beginners who would like to get into programming but are hesitant about its intricacies.
Assembly language also comes with many features such as a modular design, error handling facilities, a compact code and a flexible syntax and type system. In addition, many programmers find assembly programming an easy to learn since they only need to know the language’s basics.
Because of its many benefits, it is very common in industries such as web development, multimedia, software engineering, audio and graphics, CAD/CAM and robotics and many others. Therefore, it is becoming an increasingly popular programming option.
However, the disadvantages of assembly language are also a strong deterrent for many programmers. For example, assembly language is not portable across all platforms. Thus, if one developer is using an old version of the language, he has to make many changes for his new projects.
Another disadvantage of assembly language is that it is difficult to learn compared to other programming languages. As a result, many people are now switching from C to assembly programming.
Some programmers still prefer to use C because it is more flexible and it is more powerful compared to assembly. On the other hand, for those who want to get into the field of industry with little or no experience, it is very easy to learn and it is a great alternative to C since it can compile much faster.
Furthermore, it is a good alternative compared to C because it is more scalable. As a result, programmers can create multiple programs at once and run them using the same assembly language instead of making a new program each time.