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Adding comments to assembly code

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Assignment

Assembly Programming

You can reference the project guidelines and my code, but the goal is to show me your thought process in reverse engineering my program, neat new things you may have learned, and your thoughts on how my implementation compares to yours in terms of execution speed, RAM usage, code size, and code readability.

Do not bother explaining things that are obvious, or known in advance (“it implements TTT, uses read_int and print_int to read input and display messages, can print just the board or print debug information”, etc.). With the exception of any eventual “cool tricks”, it is unnecessary and undesirable to do a line-by-line commentary of the code.

Example 1: Do not say that a function “computes the result of a1*b1 and then adds to it the result of a2*b2”. Instead say that the function “computes the vector product of A =[a1 a2] and B=[b1 b2]T”.
Example 2: Do not say that “EAX is XORed with itself”. Instead say that “EAX is zeroed efficiently”.
With that said, you are encouraged to try to restore the [REDACTED] comments on the code. Not all of them were particularly informative initially, but obviously some of them shed light into non-obvious manipulations.
With the exception of lol, top, kek, and magic, all labels are “meaningful”, well, to me, at least!
Nothing in the source code is false nor deliberately misleading.

Jorge_TTT_sanitized.asm

%define cmpb cmp byte

%define decb dec byte

%define incb inc byte

%define xorb xor byte

%define movb mov byte

%define movq mov qword

section .bss ; Uninitialized data

buffer resb 4

pfunc resq 1

section .data ; Initialized data

mdbg db “Do you want to enable debug information?”, 0xA

mdbgl equ $ – mdbg

mPXO db “Player X”

mPXOl equ $ – mPXO

mplay2 db “, choose your location (0-8):”, 0xA, “Current board:”, 0xA

mplay2l equ $ – mplay2

mwin2 db ” wins!”, 0xA

mwin2l equ $ – mwin2

spot equ 7 ; [REDACTED]

magic equ 0x17 ; Magic! =D

mtie db “It’s a draw (tie)!”, 0xA

mtiel equ $ – mtie

mfinal db “Final board:”, 0xA

mfinall equ $ – mfinal

merr db “That location is out of range or already taken.”, 0xA

merrl equ $ – merr

pbd1 db ” | | “, 0xA

pbd1l equ $ – pbd1

pbd2 db “—–“, 0xA

pbd2l equ $ – pbd2

dbd1 db ” 012345678 “, 0xA, “[”

dbd1l equ $ – dbd1

board db ” ” ; 3×3 linearized game board

bdl equ $ – board

dbd2 db “]”, 0xA

dbd2l equ $ – dbd2

ebd1 db “Current board (hex):”, 0xA, ” 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 “, 0xA, “[”

ebd1l equ $ – ebd1

eboard db “20 58 20 4F 20 58 20 20 4F” ; [REDACTED]

el equ $ – eboard

ebd2 db “]”, 0xA

ebd2l equ $ – ebd2

hexdigits db ‘0123456789ABCDEF’

mbd1 db “Current board (mem):”, 0xA, “&board = 0x”

mbd1l equ $ – mbd1

mboard db “FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF”

ml equ $ – mboard

mbd2 db 0xA, “+offset / hex / ASCII”, 0xA

mbd2l equ $ – mbd2

mbd3 db “0x0/: 58h X”, 0xA ; [REDACTED]

mbd3l equ $ – mbd3

lol db 2,1,6,3,8,4,9,9, \

2,0,7,4,9,9,9,9, \

1,0,8,5,6,4,9,9, \

5,4,6,0,9,9,9,9, \

5,3,7,5,8,0,6,2, \

4,3,8,2,9,9,9,9, \

8,7,3,0,4,2,9,9, \

8,6,5,4,9,9,9,9, \

7,6,5,2,4,0,9,9

top equ lol+7

kek db 5,3,5,3,7,3,5,3,5

section .text ; Code

global _start ; Export entry point

print_int: ;ecx: const char* msg, edx: size_tmsgl

mov eax,4 ; System call number (sys_write)

mov ebx,1 ; First argument: file descriptor (stdout == 1)

int 0x80 ; Call kernel

ret

read_int: ;ecx: char* msg, ; edx: size_tmsgl

mov eax,3 ; System call number (sys_read)

xor ebx,ebx ; First argument: file descriptor (stdin == 0)

int 0x80 ; Call kernel

ret

check_line: ; [REDACTED]

mov bl,[mPXO+spot] ; [REDACTED]

add bl,bl ; [REDACTED]

sub bl,[board+esi] ; [REDACTED]

sub bl,[board+edi] ; [REDACTED]

jz win

ret

tie: ; No return, (it’s a tie)

mov ecx,mtie ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mtiel+mfinall ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

jmp pfinalb

win: ; No return, (someone won)

mov ecx,mPXO ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mPXOl ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,mwin2 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mwin2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,mfinal ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mfinall ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

; Fallthrough

pfinalb: ; No return, (print final board and exit)

call [pfunc]

mov eax,1 ; System call number (sys_exit)

xor ebx,ebx ; First syscall argument: exit code

int 0x80 ; Call kernel

; No ret

debug_board:

mov ecx,dbd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,dbd1l+bdl+dbd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,8 ; Locations

hexboard:

mov bl,[board+ecx]

mov dx,’20’

cmp bl,’ ‘

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’58’

cmp bl,’X’

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’4F’

cmp bl,’O’

cmove ax,dx

mov [eboard+2*ecx+ecx],al

mov [eboard+2*ecx+ecx+1],ah

dec ecx

jns hexboard

mov ecx,ebd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,ebd1l+el+ebd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,mbd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mbd1l+ml+mbd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov rsi,board

mov rdi,mbd3

memboard:

incb [rdi+3] ; [REDACTED]

mov bl,[rsi] ; [REDACTED]

mov [rdi+10],bl

mov dx,’20’

cmp bl,’ ‘

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’58’

cmp bl,’X’

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’4F’

cmp bl,’O’

cmove ax,dx

mov [rdi+6],ax ; [REDACTED]

mov ecx,mbd3 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mbd3l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

inc rsi

cmp rsi,board+9

jne memboard

movb [rdi+3],’/’ ; [REDACTED]

ret

print_board:

xor esi,esi ; [REDACTED]

nrow:

mov edi,2 ; [REDACTED]

ncol:

mov dl,[board+esi+edi] ; [REDACTED]

mov [pbd1+edi*2],dl ; [REDACTED]

dec edi

jns ncol ; [REDACTED]

mov ecx,pbd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

add esi,3 ; [REDACTED]

cmp esi,9 ; [REDACTED]

je pdone

mov edx,pbd1l+pbd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

jmp nrow

pdone:

mov edx,pbd1l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

ret

_start:

; Enable debug?

mov ecx,mdbg ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mdbgl ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

; Read answer

mov ecx,buffer ; Store input at location ‘buffer’

mov edx,2 ; Read these many bytes

call read_int

; [REDACTED]

cmpb [buffer],’Y’

je do_debug

cmpb [buffer],’y’

je do_debug

cmpb [buffer],’D’

je do_debug

cmpb [buffer],’d’

je do_debug

; [REDACTED]

movq [pfunc],print_board

jmp play

do_debug:

movq [pfunc],debug_board

mov ecx,15 ; [REDACTED]

mov rdx, board ; [REDACTED]

mov rbx, hexdigits ; [REDACTED]

memheader:

mov rax,rdx ; [REDACTED]

and rax,0x000000000000000f

xlatb ; [REDACTED]

mov byte [mboard+ecx],al

dec ecx

mov rax,rdx ; [REDACTED]

and rax,0x00000000000000f0

shr rax,4 ; [REDACTED]

xlatb ; [REDACTED]

mov byte [mboard+ecx],al

shr rdx,8 ; [REDACTED]

dec ecx

jns memheader

jmp play

invalid:

mov ecx,merr ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,merrl ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

; Fallthrough

play:

; Print messages and board

mov ecx,mPXO ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mPXOl+mplay2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

call [pfunc]

; Read input

mov ecx,buffer ; Store input at location ‘buffer’

mov edx,2; ; Read these many bytes

call read_int

; Validate

movzx eax, byte [buffer]

sub al,’0′ ; [REDACTED]

cmp al,8

ja invalid

; Range is valid

cmpb [board+eax],’ ‘ ; Is empty?

jne invalid

; Move is fully valid

mov bl,[mPXO + spot]

mov [board+eax],bl ; [REDACTED]

; [REDACTED]

movzx ecx, byte [kek+eax] ; [REDACTED]

pair:

movzx esi, byte [lol+eax*8+ecx]

dec ecx

movzx edi, byte [lol+eax*8+ecx]

call check_line

dec ecx

jns pair ; [REDACTED]

decb [top] ; [REDACTED]

jz tie

xorb [mPXO+spot],magic ; [REDACTED]

jmp play 

Solution 

Jorge_TTT_sanitized.asm

%define cmpb cmp byte

%define decb dec byte

%define incb inc byte

%define xorb xor byte

%define movb mov byte

%define movq mov qword

section .bss ; Uninitialized data

buffer resb 4

pfunc resq 1

section .data ; Initialized data

mdbg db “Do you want to enable debug information?”, 0xA

mdbgl equ $ – mdbg

mPXO db “Player X”

mPXOl equ $ – mPXO

mplay2 db “, choose your location (0-8):”, 0xA, “Current board:”, 0xA

mplay2l equ $ – mplay2

mwin2 db ” wins!”, 0xA

mwin2l equ $ – mwin2

spot equ 7 ; position of the player mark in the mPXO message

magic equ 0x17 ; Magic! =D

mtie db “It’s a draw (tie)!”, 0xA

mtiel equ $ – mtie

mfinal db “Final board:”, 0xA

mfinall equ $ – mfinal

merr db “That location is out of range or already taken.”, 0xA

merrl equ $ – merr

pbd1 db ” | | “, 0xA

pbd1l equ $ – pbd1

pbd2 db “—–“, 0xA

pbd2l equ $ – pbd2

dbd1 db ” 012345678 “, 0xA, “[”

dbd1l equ $ – dbd1

board db ” ” ; 3×3 linearized game board

bdl equ $ – board

dbd2 db “]”, 0xA

dbd2l equ $ – dbd2

ebd1 db “Current board (hex):”, 0xA, ” 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 “, 0xA, “[”

ebd1l equ $ – ebd1

eboard db “20 58 20 4F 20 58 20 20 4F” ; template used to display the linear board in hexadecimal

el equ $ – eboard

ebd2 db “]”, 0xA

ebd2l equ $ – ebd2

hexdigits db ‘0123456789ABCDEF’

mbd1 db “Current board (mem):”, 0xA, “&board = 0x”

mbd1l equ $ – mbd1

mboard db “FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF”

ml equ $ – mboard

mbd2 db 0xA, “+offset / hex / ASCII”, 0xA

mbd2l equ $ – mbd2

mbd3 db “0x0/: 58h X”, 0xA ; template used for printing board positions and hex contents one line at a time

; position initialized to ‘/’ so an increment will bring it to ‘0’

mbd3l equ $ – mbd3

lol db 2,1,6,3,8,4,9,9, \

2,0,7,4,9,9,9,9, \

1,0,8,5,6,4,9,9, \

5,4,6,0,9,9,9,9, \

5,3,7,5,8,0,6,2, \

4,3,8,2,9,9,9,9, \

8,7,3,0,4,2,9,9, \

8,6,5,4,9,9,9,9, \

7,6,5,2,4,0,9,9

top equ lol+7

kek db 5,3,5,3,7,3,5,3,5

section .text ; Code

global _start ; Export entry point

print_int: ;ecx: const char* msg, edx: size_tmsgl

mov eax,4 ; System call number (sys_write)

mov ebx,1 ; First argument: file descriptor (stdout == 1)

int 0x80 ; Call kernel

ret

read_int: ;ecx: char* msg, ; edx: size_tmsgl

mov eax,3 ; System call number (sys_read)

xor ebx,ebx ; First argument: file descriptor (stdin == 0)

int 0x80 ; Call kernel

ret

check_line: ; check if the two positions edi and esi in the board contain the current player mark

mov bl,[mPXO+spot] ; load the current player’s mark in bl

add bl,bl ; put 2 times the current mark in bl

sub bl,[board+esi] ; subtract the character in position esi in the board from bl

sub bl,[board+edi] ; subtract the character in position edi in the board from bl

jz win

ret

tie: ; No return, (it’s a tie)

mov ecx,mtie ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mtiel+mfinall ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

jmp pfinalb

win: ; No return, (someone won)

mov ecx,mPXO ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mPXOl ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,mwin2 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mwin2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,mfinal ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mfinall ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

; Fallthrough

pfinalb: ; No return, (print final board and exit)

call [pfunc]

mov eax,1 ; System call number (sys_exit)

xor ebx,ebx ; First syscall argument: exit code

int 0x80 ; Call kernel

; No ret

debug_board:

mov ecx,dbd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,dbd1l+bdl+dbd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,8 ; Locations

hexboard:

mov bl,[board+ecx]

mov dx,’20’

cmp bl,’ ‘

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’58’

cmp bl,’X’

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’4F’

cmp bl,’O’

cmove ax,dx

mov [eboard+2*ecx+ecx],al

mov [eboard+2*ecx+ecx+1],ah

dec ecx

jns hexboard

mov ecx,ebd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,ebd1l+el+ebd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov ecx,mbd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mbd1l+ml+mbd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

mov rsi,board

mov rdi,mbd3

memboard:

incb [rdi+3] ; increment the character representing the position

mov bl,[rsi] ; load the current char from the board and update template with it

mov [rdi+10],bl

mov dx,’20’

cmp bl,’ ‘

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’58’

cmp bl,’X’

cmove ax,dx

mov dx,’4F’

cmp bl,’O’

cmove ax,dx

mov [rdi+6],ax ; save board character translation to hex in the template

mov ecx,mbd3 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mbd3l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

inc rsi

cmp rsi,board+9

jne memboard

movb [rdi+3],’/’ ; restore the position in the template to ‘/’

ret

print_board:

xor esi,esi ; initialize esi to zero

nrow:

mov edi,2 ; we will fill the 3 chars in a single row on the board template (0 to 2)

ncol:

mov dl,[board+esi+edi] ; load character from the board at the current position

mov [pbd1+edi*2],dl ; save the character in the board line template

dec edi

jns ncol ; repeat while edi is not negative

mov ecx,pbd1 ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

add esi,3 ; advance to next row in the board by adding 3

cmp esi,9 ; if we get to position 9 we have printed all the board

je pdone

mov edx,pbd1l+pbd2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

jmp nrow

pdone:

mov edx,pbd1l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

ret

_start:

; Enable debug?

mov ecx,mdbg ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mdbgl ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

; Read answer

mov ecx,buffer ; Store input at location ‘buffer’

mov edx,2 ; Read these many bytes

call read_int

; determine if the user entered Y, y, D or d

cmpb [buffer],’Y’

je do_debug

cmpb [buffer],’y’

je do_debug

cmpb [buffer],’D’

je do_debug

cmpb [buffer],’d’

je do_debug

; by default, use the print board function

movq [pfunc],print_board

jmp play

do_debug:

movq [pfunc],debug_board

mov ecx,15 ; we will use it to loop 16 times

mov rdx, board ; load the board address in rdx

mov rbx, hexdigits ; load the hexadecimal table for translating digits

memheader:

mov rax,rdx ; load the current address into rax

and rax,0x000000000000000f

xlatb ; translate the lowest nibble to ascii using the hex table

mov byte [mboard+ecx],al

dec ecx

mov rax,rdx ; restore the board address in rax

and rax,0x00000000000000f0

shr rax,4 ; move the upper nibble of the first byte to the bottom

xlatb ; translate the second nibble to ascii using the hex table

mov byte [mboard+ecx],al

shr rdx,8 ; update the address to print the next byte

dec ecx

jns memheader

jmp play

invalid:

mov ecx,merr ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,merrl ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

; Fallthrough

play:

; Print messages and board

mov ecx,mPXO ; Second argument: pointer to message to write

mov edx,mPXOl+mplay2l ; Third argument: message length

call print_int

call [pfunc]

; Read input

mov ecx,buffer ; Store input at location ‘buffer’

mov edx,2; ; Read these many bytes

call read_int

; Validate

movzx eax, byte [buffer]

sub al,’0′ ; convert the read ascii char to an integer

cmp al,8

ja invalid

; Range is valid

cmpb [board+eax],’ ‘ ; Is empty?

jne invalid

; Move is fully valid

mov bl,[mPXO + spot]

mov [board+eax],bl ; save the current player mark to the selected position in the board

; check the board for a possible winner or tie

movzx ecx, byte [kek+eax] ; get the number of positions to compare into ecx

pair:

movzx esi, byte [lol+eax*8+ecx]

dec ecx

movzx edi, byte [lol+eax*8+ecx]

call check_line

dec ecx

jns pair ; repeat while ecx>=0

decb [top] ; decrement number of free positions

jz tie

xorb [mPXO+spot],magic ; change the player by xoring with ‘X’^’O’ = 0x17