Turbo Assembler (sometimes shortened to the name of the executable, TASM) is an assembler for software development published by Borland in 1989. It runs on and produces code for 16- or 32-bit x86 MS-DOS and compatibles or Microsoft Windows. It can be used with Borland's other language products: Turbo Pascal, Turbo Basic, Turbo C, and Turbo C++. The Turbo Assembler package is bundled with Turbo Linker and is interoperable with Turbo Debugger.
| Developer(s) | Borland |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1989 |
| Stable release | 5.4 |
| Operating system | MS-DOS, Windows |
| Type | Assembler |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | Official webpage at the Wayback Machine (archived October 23, 2010) |
Borland advertised Turbo Assembler as being 2-3 times faster than its primary competitor, Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM). TASM can assemble source in a MASM-compatible mode or an ideal mode with a few enhancements. Object-Oriented programming was added in version 3. The last version of Turbo Assembler is 5.4, with files dated 1996 and patches up to 2010; it is still included with Delphi and C++Builder.
TASM itself is a 16-bit program. It will run on 16- and 32-bit versions of Windows, and produce code for the same versions, but it does not generate 64-bit x86 code. Turbo Assembler 5.0 (at least) also contains a 32-bit PE version of tasm called TASM32.EXE.
Example
A Turbo Assembler program that prints 'Merry Christmas!':
.model small.stack100h.datamsgdb "Merry christmas!",'$'.codemainproc mov ax, SEG msgmovds, axmovdx, offset msgmovah, 9int21hmovax, 4c00hint21hmainendpendmainSee also
- Comparison of assemblers
- A86 - contemporary of Turbo Assembler
- MASM - contemporary of Turbo Assembler
- FASM - More recent x86 assembler
References
- Notes
- Swan, Tom (1989). Mastering Turbo Assembler. Carmel, Indiana: Howard W. Sams & Company, Hayden Books division of Macmillan Computer Publishing. ISBN 0-672-48435-8. 2nd Edition, 1995 ISBN 0-672-30526-7.