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The SubX documentation describes SubX notation with some details hidden behind syntax sugar – local rewrite rules that make programming in SubX less error-prone. However, much low-level SubX (before the syntax sugar is implemented) is written without syntax sugar. This document describes some details of the syntax sugar: how the reg/mem operand is translated into arguments.

How x86 instructions compute operands

The Intel processor manual is the final source of truth on the x86 instruction set, but it can be forbidding to make sense of, so here’s a quick orientation. You will need familiarity with binary numbers, and maybe a few other things. Email me any time if something isn’t clear. I love explaining this stuff for as long as it takes. The bad news is that it takes some getting used to. The good news is that internalizing the next 500 words will give you a significantly deeper understanding of your computer.

The reg/mem operand can be specified by 1-7 arguments, each ranging in size from 2 bits to 4 bytes. The key argument that’s always present for reg/mem operands is /mod, the addressing mode. This is a 2-bit argument that can take 4 possible values, and it determines what other arguments are required, and how to interpret them.

In the last three cases, one exception occurs when the /rm32 argument contains 4. Rather than encoding register esp, it means the address is provided by three whole new arguments (/base, /index and /scale) in a totally different way (where << is the left-shift operator):

reg/mem = *(base + (index << scale))

(There are a couple more exceptions ☹; see Table 2-2 and Table 2-3 of the Intel manual for the complete story.)

Phew, that was a lot to take in. Some examples to work through as you reread and digest it:

  1. To read directly from the eax register, /mod must be 3 (direct mode), and /rm32 must be 0. There must be no /base, /index or /scale arguments.

  2. To read from *eax (in C syntax), /mod must be 0 (indirect mode), and the /rm32 argument must be 0. There must be no /base, /index or /scale arguments (Intel calls the trio the ‘SIB byte’.).

  3. To read from *(eax+4), /mod must be 1 (indirect + disp8 mode), /rm32 must be 0, there must be no SIB byte, and there must be a single displacement byte containing 4.

  4. To read from *(eax+ecx+4), one approach would be to set /mod to 1 as above, /rm32 to 4 (SIB byte next), /base to 0, /index to 1 (ecx) and a single displacement byte to 4. (What should the scale bits be? Can you think of another approach?)

  5. To read from *(eax+ecx+1000), one approach would be:

    • /mod: 2 (indirect + disp32)
    • /rm32: 4 (/base, /index and /scale arguments required)
    • /base: 0 (eax)
    • /index: 1 (ecx)
    • /disp32: 4 bytes containing 1000

Putting it all together

Here’s an example showing these arguments at work:

linux/ex3.subx

This program sums the first 10 natural numbers. By convention I use horizontal tabstops to help read instructions, dots to help follow the long lines, comments before groups of instructions to describe their high-level purpose, and comments at the end of complex instructions to state the low-level operation they perform. Numbers are always in hexadecimal (base 16) and must start with a digit (‘0’..’9’); use the ‘0x’ prefix when a number starts with a letter (‘a’..’f’). I tend to also include it as a reminder when numbers look like decimal numbers.

I recommend you order arguments consistently in your programs. SubX allows arguments in any order, but only because that’s simplest to explain/implement. Switching order from instruction to instruction is likely to add to the reader’s burden. Here’s the order I’ve been using after opcodes:

        |<--------- reg/mem --------->|        |<- reg/mem? ->|
/subop  /mod /rm32  /base /index /scale  /r32   /displacement   /immediate

Try running this example now:

$ cd linux
$ bootstrap/bootstrap translate 000init.subx ex3.subx -o ex3
$ bootstrap/bootstrap run ex3
$ echo $?
55

If you’re on Linux you can also run it natively:

$ chmod +x ex3
$ ./ex3
$ echo $?
55

These details should now be enough information for reading and modifying low-level SubX programs.

Translating SubX programs

This repo includes two translators for bare SubX. The first is the bootstrap translator implemented in C++. In addition, you can use SubX to translate itself. For example, running natively on Linux:

# generate translator phases using the C++ translator
$ cd linux
$ bootstrap/bootstrap translate [01]*.subx subx-params.subx hex.subx      -o hex
$ bootstrap/bootstrap translate [01]*.subx subx-params.subx survey_elf.subx -o survey_elf
$ bootstrap/bootstrap translate [01]*.subx subx-params.subx pack.subx     -o pack
$ bootstrap/bootstrap translate [01]*.subx subx-params.subx assort.subx   -o assort
$ bootstrap/bootstrap translate [01]*.subx subx-params.subx dquotes.subx  -o dquotes
$ bootstrap/bootstrap translate [01]*.subx subx-params.subx tests.subx    -o tests
$ chmod +x hex survey_elf pack assort dquotes tests

# use the generated translator phases to translate SubX programs
$ cat 000init.subx ex1.subx |./tests |./dquotes |./assort |./pack |./survey_elf |./hex > a.elf
$ chmod +x a.elf
$ ./a.elf
$ echo $?
42

# or, automating the above steps
$ cd linux
$ ./translate_subx 000init.linux ex1.subx
$ ./a.elf
$ echo $?
42

Or, running in a VM on other platforms (much slower):

$ ./translate_subx_emulated init.linux linux/ex1.subx  # generates identical a.elf to above
$ bootstrap/bootstrap run a.elf
$ echo $?
42

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