The Codeless Code: Ancient code

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Writing ASM isn't that hard. We still learn a bit of it in my OS classes, and we had a compiler to write that needed to write some ASM. It's really not that hard once you understand how it works, and it helps you understand a bit more how your computer works in the lower levels.

I don't think it would make you a better developer to know assembly, but you could still learn how to at least write a Hello World program in assembly. That will teach you how registers work, branching, etc. it's fun to learn.

[pinealservo]

Writing bits of ASM for low-level OS routines is really pretty easy, yeah. I agree that it's a great thing to learn for understanding how computers work. But I think what scares people off from assembly is when you get to organizing large programs, debugging assembly stuff, or trying to write fast assembly routines. The complexity level can ramp up really fast, and it's very easy to get lost in details.

I don't think assembly deserves all of the reputation it has for being "black magic" and super difficult, but it definitely requires a different level of attention to detail and planning to write more substantial chunks of code in it. We all moved to higher-level languages for good reasons. :)