Re: Download counts of assemblers.


Herbert Kleebauer wrote:
"rhyde@xxxxxxxxxx" wrote:


You seem to forget that there is a nearly unlimited resource of
people who don't want to learn assembly programming and HLA is
the perfect product for them. I suppose, they even would use it
if they had to pay for it. Why don't you ask for an email
feedback in your distribution, maybe with a fill in form
which asks about:

- were there any problems installing HLA

Generally, when people have problems installing HLA, they email me or
post to one of the HLA-specific forums. I currently get about 1-3 such
messages per month right now.

- for what purpose did you intend to use HLA

That's easy. most people are using it to learn assembly language
programming -- contrary to your assertion -- because they want to learn
assembly language programming. As for the students in courses that are
using HLA, they rarely communicate directly with me because they've got
their instructor and TAs to provide the help they need.


- was HLA usable for this purpose

Seems to be.


- if not, what has to be added to HLA to make it usable for this purpose

For most people I've communicated with, it's not a function of adding
anything. From a features point of view, HLA is far more feature-rich
than most people are able to deal with for a considerable time.


- what additional features would you like to see in HLA

Again, in the assembly language, there really isn't much they could ask
for.


- why did you choose HLA and not a real assembler

Unlike you and Rene, who have your own agendas and products to push,
most people who want to learn assembly language don't buy this line at
all. They see that all the machine instructions are there, they see an
easy path to learning how to use those machine instructions, and they
are quite satisfied with HLA. Of course, you and Rene don't think that
MASM is an assembler, either, but that's your problem, not the problem
of people who are learning assembly language programming. Beginners
really don't give a flying pile of crap about subtleties you and Rene
like to draw, such as the difference between a "basic assembler" and a
"macro assembler" and a "high-level assembler." They see the fact that
all of these support the x86 instruction set and that the higher-end
assemblers (e.g., the "high-level assemblers") can do everything the
other assemblers do, and lot's more. People just don't buy this crap
that you and Rene are feeding about how if an assembler has "too many
features" you just can't call it an assembler anymore. They (rightly)
figure that if you can do *everything* that a basic assembler does,
they can choose to ignore any additional features if they really want
to operate in a "basic assembly language" mode.

So the better question would be: why would you have possibly considered
a weaker assembler for the job?


Even if only 1% gives you feed back, it still would be useful
information.

I get more than that already. Without asking for it. That's one of the
ways I estimate that there are about 100-200 new HLA users each month
(non-students) -- from the unsolicited responses I get.


I also would like to see the answers, especially
for the last question (even if you replace "real" by "an other").

I can tell you the answer to that one: probably a quarter of the emails
I get from people are thanking me for producing an assembler that
*finally* allowed them to learn assembly language programming. They
complain about how they've tried other assemblers (MASM and NASM are
the two top contenders) and were never able to really get into assembly
language programming until they starting learning with HLA and AoA.
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

.

Relevant Pages

  • HLA History
    ... The Self-proclaimed "assembly language historian" ... High-Level Assembler. ... HLA *has* been around long enough now ... using MASM 6.1. ...
    (alt.lang.asm)
  • Re: TMA Assembler?
    ... I wish I was as good as Rene in ASM, but there is still some way to go, ... i'm wrong) going for HLA while coming from a C background. ... provide an assembly language whose syntax is familiar to HLL ... claiming that HLA is yet another Assembler. ...
    (alt.lang.asm)
  • Re: Rocket Science
    ... >> Also, logically, if MASM is the underlying assembler being used by ... then MASM must always be being run in addition to HLA so ... the MASM or FASM or whatever underlying assembler's speed into its own ...
    (alt.lang.asm)
  • Re: windows file name to hla string conversion....
    ... appear to be an attack, ... others learn assembly language. ... Instead of attacking HLA and MASM users for their choice of tools, ... I realize you've put a lot of effort into your assembler. ...
    (comp.lang.asm.x86)
  • Re: RosAsm Team is Still Making Excuses
    ... It doesn't change the fact, though, that RosAsm *does* exhibit the ... The term "High Level Assembler" existed about two decades before HLA ... learning "real" assembly language, a much greater percentage of people ...
    (alt.lang.asm)