12 - Assembler and linker tools

• Published in: Embedded Systems and Computer Architecture pp. 185 - 195
• Main Author: G.R. Wilson
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2002
• ISBN: 9780750650649; 0750650648
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-075065064-9/50013-4

The purpose of the assembler and linker tools is to automatically convert the statements, written in assembly language, into a code that can be executed by the microprocessor. Without these tools, the programmer would find the task of building reliable programs forbiddingly difficult. This chapter takes a look at how the assembler and linker tools work. A major factor in the process of creating reliable programs is that the programmer is able to identify each of the various functions of the program and write the code for each of the functions independently of the other functions. Thus, the tools available to the programmer should accommodate the need to be able to write the code for a particular function as though it existed alone, and then to bring together, or link, all the functions of the program into the code for the complete program.