A structured approach to assembly language programming

A method is described for teaching structured programming techniques to students of assembly language programming. Structured programming, historically, has only been within the realm of high-level languages (Pascal, C, etc.), while a more loose approach-one lacking a formal syntax-has traditionally been applied to low-level programming in assembly language. Borrowing words and symbols from Pascal and C, a simple syntax was devised, called Pseudo Code, that uses three basic structures: linear, conditional, and loop. Upon learning that all the programs can be written using only these three structures, students become convinced of the reduced complexity brought by Pseudo Code. A method is adopted that proceeds from the problem definition to the assembly language program using Pseudo Code as an interim step. Using this method, students at the author´s college have successfully developed software in assembly language that would have been too complex for them to attempt without coding their solutions in a structured form