Editing Assembly language (section)

==Terminology==
* A '''macro assembler''' is an assembler that includes a [[macro (computer science)|macroinstruction]] facility so that (parameterized) assembly language text can be represented by a name, and that name can be used to insert the expanded text into other code.
** '''Open code''' refers to any assembler input outside of a macro definition.
* {{anchor|Cross assembler}}A '''cross assembler''' (see also [[cross compiler]]) is an assembler that is run on a computer or [[operating system]] (the ''host'' system) of a different type from the system on which the resulting code is to run (the ''target system''). Cross-assembling facilitates the development of programs for systems that do not have the resources to support software development, such as an [[embedded system]] or a [[microcontroller]]. In such a case, the resulting [[object code]] must be transferred to the target system, via [[read-only memory]] (ROM, [[EPROM]], etc.), a [[Programmer (hardware)|programmer]] (when the read-only memory is integrated in the device, as in microcontrollers), or a data link using either an exact bit-by-bit copy of the object code or a text-based representation of that code (such as [[Intel hex]] or [[Motorola S-record]]).
* A '''[[high-level assembler]]''' is a program that provides language abstractions more often associated with high-level languages, such as advanced control structures ([[Conditional (computer programming)#If–then(–else)|IF/THEN/ELSE]], DO CASE, etc.) and high-level abstract data types, including structures/records, unions, classes, and sets.
* A '''[[microassembler]]''' is a program that helps prepare a [[microcode|microprogram]] to control the low level operation of a computer.
* A '''meta-assembler''' is "a program that accepts the syntactic and semantic description of an assembly language, and generates an assembler for that language",<ref name="Daintith_2019"/> or that accepts an assembler source file along with such a description and assembles the source file in accordance with that description. "Meta-Symbol" assemblers for the [[SDS 9 Series]] and [[SDS Sigma series]] of computers are meta-assemblers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Xerox Data Systems |title=Xerox Meta-Symbol Sigma 5-9 Computers Language and Operations Reference Manual |date=Oct 1975 |page=vi |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/sds/sigma/lang/900952G_metaSymbolLangRef_Oct75.pdf |quote=Used as a meta-assembler, it enables the user to design his own programming languages and to generate processors for such languages with a minimum of effort. |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/sds/sigma/lang/900952G_metaSymbolLangRef_Oct75.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=June 7, 2020}}</ref> [[Sperry Univac]] also provided a Meta-Assembler for the [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sperry Univac Computer Systems |title=Sperry Univac Computer Systems Meta-Assembler (MASM) Programmer Reference |date=1977 |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/univac/1100/asm/UP-8453_MASM_Programmers_Ref_1977.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/univac/1100/asm/UP-8453_MASM_Programmers_Ref_1977.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=June 7, 2020}}</ref>
* '''[[inline assembler]]''' (or '''embedded assembler''') is assembler code contained within a high-level language program.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to Use Inline Assembly Language in C Code |url=https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Using-Assembly-Language-with-C.html |website=gnu.org |access-date=Nov 5, 2020}}</ref> This is most often used in systems programs which need direct access to the hardware.