This tutorial is meant to be a guide to learning the BASIC ASM language and compiling programs with BZC. No previous ASM knowledge is required; such knowledge can only help. However, some programming experience (BASIC or C, at least) is expected; you will most likely be lost otherwise. Note that this is NOT a guide to learning to program in pure ASM; only BASIC ASM is covered here. So, with all that in mind, let's begin.
Like every other language, BASIC ASM has a certain syntax that the compiler expects find in the .bzc source file. The following is an overview of the BASIC ASM language.
Overview
The driving force behind developing BASIC ASM was to create a language that was much easier to learn than pure ASM, but still retained all of the power and flexibility of pure ASM. To this end, BASIC ASM was designed primarily around the concept of functions. The resulting language should thus be, in many ways, BASIC programmers making the transition from BASIC to ASM. On the other hand, C programmers might note some syntaxes and other details that feel just like C. And, of course, the die-hard ASM programmers will still be able to work their magic at the instruction level (more about that later). The point here is that BASIC ASM is essentially a fusion of the most successful programming languages ever, a robust, hybrid language, if you will.
Now, let's get down to some specifics. Click the Compiling link at the top of the page to learn how to use BZC and compile your first BASIC ASM program!