PROJECT: C(onvert) To Assembly (CTA1)

OBJECTIVE

This week the effort will be towards completing the functional pong game in assembly.

EDIT

You will want to go here to edit and fill in the various sections of the document:

https://lab46.g7n.org/notes/comporg/fall2023/projects/cta1

CTA1

Assembly

Storing Data Within the Stack:

With 16 Registers, and only 11 of which can be used for general purpose value storage, it's impossible to store every variable one might need within the Registers only. This can be mediated by using the Stack.

At the beginning of the main function, it's optimal to shove SP down the stack quite a ways, and store your variables within the stack between BP and SP. Use BP as a reference point to access each individual value on the stack.

Note: You'll only be able to access these variables within the main function. Once you enter a sub-function with a sub-stack, you can't use BP as a reference. Thus, when passing variables into functions as parameters, copy and push those variables to the stack first.

Integers and Floats

Upon coding using trigonometry with angle conversions between integers and floats, making use of the CIF (convert int to float) and CFI (convert float to int) instructions was key, along with using the appropriate arithmetic instructions depending on the type of the data contained within registers.

If Statements

If statements in assembly are fairly straightforward:

Declare the If Start
Declare the If End
Use Comparison Operators as you would in C for the If condition
Use a Jump Instruction to check the comparison that points towards the End.

SUBMISSION

To be successful in this project, the following criteria (or their equivalent) must be met:

Project must be submit on time, by the deadline.
- Late submissions will lose 33% credit per day, with the submission window closing on the 3rd day following the deadline.
Executed programs must display in a manner similar to provided output
- output formatted, where applicable, must match that of project requirements
Processing must be correct based on input given and output requested
Output, if applicable, must be correct based on values input
Code must be nicely and consistently indented
Code must be consistently written, to strive for readability from having a consistent style throughout
Code must be commented
- Any “to be implemented” comments MUST be removed
  - these “to be implemented” comments, if still present at evaluation time, will result in points being deducted.
  - Sufficient comments explaining the point of provided logic MUST be present
No global variables (without instructor approval), no goto statements, no calling of main()!
Track/version the source code in your lab46 semester repository
Submit a copy of your source code to me using the submit tool by the deadline.

Submit Tool Usage

Let's say you have completed work on the project, and are ready to submit, you would do the following:

lab46:~/src/SEMESTER/DESIG/PROJECT$ submit DESIG PROJECT file1 file2 file3 ... fileN

You should get some sort of confirmation indicating successful submission if all went according to plan. If not, check for typos and or locational mismatches.

RUBRIC

I'll be evaluating the project based on the following criteria:

39:cta1:final tally of results (39/39)
*:cta1:functional and original assembly implementation [39/39]

Pertaining to the collaborative authoring of project documentation

each class member is to participate in the contribution of relevant information and formatting of the documentation
- minimal member contributions consist of:
  - near the class average edits (a value of at least four productive edits)
  - near the average class content change average (a value of at least 1024 bytes (absolute value of data content change))
  - near the class content contribution average (a value of at least 1kiB)
  - no zero-sum commits (adding in one commit then later removing in its entirety for the sake of satisfying edit requirements)
- adding and formatting data in an organized fashion, aiming to create an informative and readable document that anyone in the class can reference
- content contributions will be factored into a documentation coefficient, a value multiplied against your actual project submission to influence the end result:
  - no contributions, co-efficient is 0.50
  - less than minimum contributions is 0.75
  - met minimum contribution threshold is 1.00

Additionally

Solutions not abiding by spirit of project will be subject to a 50% overall deduction
Solutions not utilizing descriptive why and how comments will be subject to a 25% overall deduction
Solutions not utilizing indentation to promote scope and clarity or otherwise maintaining consistency in code style and presentation will be subject to a 25% overall deduction
Solutions not organized and easy to read (assume a terminal at least 90 characters wide, 40 characters tall) are subject to a 25% overall deduction

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