Two languages, one alphabet
You can read English. That is enough to start. This site teaches Assembly and Fortran as two real languages, with words, grammar and sentences. A small retro game, playable in this browser, is the goal at the end.
A A side
Assembly
The first language of the machine
81 instructions in the original 8086 list
Small dictionary, long sentences: three words of work.
B B side
Fortran
The language that speaks maths
598 different keywords in Fortran 2018
Large dictionary, short sentences: one line.
mov ax, [speed]add ax, [boost]mov [speed], axspeed = speed + boostThe lens: parts of speech
Each language has verbs, nouns, adjectives and idioms, as English has. The numbers show how many words of each part are in our A-side and B-side dictionaries.
| Part of speech | A side: Assembly | B side: Fortran |
|---|---|---|
| Verb An action word. | An instruction: one step that the processor does, for example MOV or ADD. 51 words | A statement that does something, for example PRINT, CALL or ALLOCATE. 17 words |
| Noun A thing with a name. | A register, a flag, a port or a place in memory, for example AX. 23 words | A kind of value (a type), for example INTEGER or REAL. 6 words |
| Adjective A word that describes a noun. | A size word, for example BYTE (8 bits) or WORD (16 bits). 2 words | An attribute, for example ALLOCATABLE or PARAMETER. 15 words |
| Adverb A word that changes how a verb acts. | A prefix, for example REP: do the next verb again, CX times. 1 words | A word that changes a loop, for example CONCURRENT in DO CONCURRENT. 1 words |
| Idiom A ready-made phrase with a fixed meaning. | A BIOS or DOS service call, for example INT 21h with AH=09h: show a line of text. 7 words | A built-in function or subroutine, for example SQRT or MATMUL. 32 words |
| Grammar mark Punctuation and signs that join words into a sentence. | Commas between operands, [square brackets] for memory, a colon after a label. 5 words | Maths signs (+ - * / **), the = sign, and (:) for part of an array. 18 words |
| Note to the translator A word for the translator only. The processor never sees it. | An assembler directive, for example ORG, DB or %macro. 12 words | A structure word, for example PROGRAM, MODULE or CONTAINS. 10 words |
The segments
A segment is one job that a language must be able to say. Each segment has an A page and a B page.
Showing text and reading keys
How does the program talk to the person at the keyboard?
Controlling the hardware
How do you talk to the screen, the keyboard chip and the clock directly?
More
- Dictionary: look up each word of the two languages.
- Compare the two sides: strengths and dictionary sizes in one view.
- Plan and decisions: where the project goes next.
- Background research: the review of four AI-written guides. It shows areas that are easy to miss.