Assembly language
High-level language
a = b + c;
Machine language
000000 01000 01001 01010 00000 100001
Assembly language is between high-level and machine
Each statement defines one machine operation
Directly represents architecture
Assembler program translates to machine language
ISA: Instruction Set Architecture
Machine structure as seen by the programmer
Each kind of machine has its own ISA
Sun (Labs): SPARC
DEC (Class cluster): Alpha
HP: PA (Precision Architecture)
IBM Classic: S360/370/390/zSeries
PC: Intel x86
MAC: Motorola 680x0