The Netwide Assembler on a Mac
The Netwide Assembler or NASM, is an x86 and x64 assembler designed for UNIX operation systems. The assembler comes with documentation which will help you with the basics. It supports a multiple range of object file formats, including Mac, UNIX, and Windows formats.
It will also output plain binary files, Motorola and Intel formats. Its syntax is designed to be simple and easy to read and understand. The Assembler supports all existing x86 and x64 extensions, and has strong support for macos.
Most university projects will use a assembly language because the main goal is to demonstrate feasibility and any unnecessary complications in demonstrating this are undesirable. Starting from version 2.07, NASM is now under the BSD license.
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App description: NASM
Version: 2.14
Updated: February 20019
System requirements: OS X 10.3 or later (macOS Mojave)
This post brought back so many memories! I remember using NASM back in the early 2000s on a clunky Power Mac running Virtual PC. I’d spend hours writing bootloaders and tiny DOS programs, marveling at how a few lines of code could make the screen flash or print “Hello, World” in glorious 16-bit text mode.
Back then, getting NASM to work on a Mac was a bit of a hacky adventure. Now, seeing it run natively with Homebrew and modern chipsets feels like a dream. It’s amazing how far we’ve come—and yet, the thrill of writing assembly hasn’t changed a bit.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Time to dust off some files and relive the magic.