Chapter 4: Constants, Variables, and Data Types

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4.1 Chapter Overview

Chapter 2 discussed the basic format for data in memory. Chapter 3 covered how a computer system physically organizes that data in memory. This chapter finishes the discussion by connecting the concept of data representation to its actual physical representation. As the title implies, this chapter concerns itself with three main topics: constants, variables, and data structures. This chapter does not assume that you've had a formal course in data structures, though such experience would be useful.

This chapter discusses how to declare and use constants, scalar variables, integers, reals, data types, pointers, arrays, records/structures, unions, and namespaces. You must master these subjects before going on to the next chapter. Declaring and accessing arrays, in particular, seems to present a multitude of problems to beginning assembly language programmers. However, the rest of this text depends on your understanding of these data structures and their memory representation. Do not try to skim over this material with the expectation that you will pick it up as you need it later. You will need it right away, and trying to learn this material along with later material will only confuse you more.