Has anybody had real experience with the Terse Assembler ?

Question

I'm interested in playing with assembler (again) as a diversion from high level languages like Smalltalk, and came across the Terse Assembler Site. The syntax looks quite interesting, and appears to be a useful development on Assembler Languages, but I was wondering if anyboy has used Terse in a real world project and did it offer advantages over using any of the traditional Assemblers available ?

Answer 1

While understanding assembly language can be a good thing, very rarely are there reasonable benefits to actually using it in a real world project. And when there are benefits, you don't need to use much assembly language to achieve them.

In my opinion, you can't learn Terse until you've learned ordinary assembly language (because it wouldn't really make sense). And since there's little need to use assembly language after you've learned it, there's little point in learning or using Terse.

As it happens, I'm one of those people who codes assembly language for enjoyment. I like the look of Terse, but it's only going to make a difference when you write reams of code in assembly. And nobody does that in real world projects.

Answer 2

I also like assembler, having coded in 8080, Z80 and x86 over the years. I've looked at Terse and have always baulked at the idea of spending money. A free alternative, in the same vein, is High Level Assembly (main site). Other info about it can be found on Wikipedia. The HLA site has a very interesting comparison of assemblers, which includes reference to Terse.