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doctorgonzo · 05-28-2002, 08:09 PM

Assembly language is about as close to the ones and zeros of computer speak that you can get. Here's a sample:

mov ax,1234
mov bl,al
mov bh,ah
add bx,03C6

Most people say "Huh?" to that. It is pretty obtuse, but with assembly language you are directly manipulating bits and registers on the processor.

The C:\> prompt you see is from DOS and the command interpreter, COMMAND.COM. When the computer starts, the BIOS gets thing moving, sees what peripherals and components are attached to the system, but can't really do much more. It thus has to look for an operating system to boot from, on either a floppy, a CD-ROM, or the HD. That is why, if you leave a floppy in the drive when you reboot, you will get the "Non-system disk" error, and the boot will stop. That's as far as the BIOS can get you.

05-28-2002, 08:09 PM	#7
doctorgonzo Professional gadfly Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 6,364	Assembly language is about as close to the ones and zeros of computer speak that you can get. Here's a sample: mov ax,1234 mov bl,al mov bh,ah add bx,03C6 Most people say "Huh?" to that. It is pretty obtuse, but with assembly language you are directly manipulating bits and registers on the processor. The C:\> prompt you see is from DOS and the command interpreter, COMMAND.COM. When the computer starts, the BIOS gets thing moving, sees what peripherals and components are attached to the system, but can't really do much more. It thus has to look for an operating system to boot from, on either a floppy, a CD-ROM, or the HD. That is why, if you leave a floppy in the drive when you reboot, you will get the "Non-system disk" error, and the boot will stop. That's as far as the BIOS can get you.