Eddie's Blog

[Day41] Read Rust Atomics and Locks - Processor Introduction

by Mara Bos

At Topic: Chapter 7

Notes

Two main specific processor architectures:

x86

  • CISC, complex instruction set computer
  • Able to directly operate on memory
  • Intel + AMD are two main manufacturers
  • Mainly used in desktops, laptops, servers and game consoles
  • x86-16 and x86-32 are mainly dominated by Intel
  • x86-64: AMD64, IA-64 (Intel) and more popular AMD's extensions IA-32e (Intel), EMT64T (Intel), Intel 64

ARM64

aka. AArch64

  • RISC, reduced instruction set computer
  • Loading and storing ot memory takes a seperate instruction
  • Mainly used in modern mobile devices, embedded systems, and increasingly in laptops and desktops
  • E.g. cars, electronic COVID tests

Assembly

ldr x, 1234 // load from memory address 1234 into x
li y, 0     // set y to zero
inc x       // increment x
add y, x    // add x to y
mul x, 3    // multiply x by 3
cmp y, 10   // compare y to 10
jne -5      // jump five instructions back if not equal
str 1234, x // store x to memory address 1234
// =>
         ldr x, SOME_VAR
         li y, 0
my_loop: inc x
         add y, x
         mul x, 3
         cmp y, 10
         jne my_loop
         str SOME_VAR, x
  • Registers (part of the processor, hold a single integer or memory address): x, y

References