CHAPTER

10
Arithmetic Instructions
The INC Instruction

T he INC instruction is used for incrementing an operand by one. It works on a single operand that can be

either in a register or in memory.

SYNTAX:
The INC instruction has the following syntax:

INC destination

The operand destination could be an 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit operand.

EXAMPLE:
INC EBX ; Increments 32-bit register
INC DL ; Increments 8-bit register
INC [count] ; Increments the count variable

The DEC Instruction

The DEC instruction is used for decrementing an operand by one. It works on a single operand that can be either
in a register or in memory.

SYNTAX:
The DEC instruction has the following syntax:

DEC destination

The operand destination could be an 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit operand.

EXAMPLE:
segment .data
count dw 0
value db 15
segment .text
inc [count]

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 dec [value]
mov ebx, count
inc word [ebx]
mov esi, value
dec byte [esi]

The ADD and SUB Instructions

The ADD and SUB instructions are used for performing simple addition/subtraction of binary data in
byte, word and doubleword size, i.e., for adding or subtracting 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit operands
respectively.

SYNTAX:
The ADD and SUB instructions have the following syntax:

ADD/SUB destination, source

The ADD/SUB instruction can take place between:

 Register to register

 Memory to register

 Register to memory

 Register to constant data

 Memory to constant data

However, like other instructions, memory-to-memory operations are not possible using ADD/SUB instructions. An
ADD or SUB operation sets or clears the overflow and carry flags.

EXAMPLE:
The following example asks two digits from the user, stores the digits in the EAX and EBX register respectively,
adds the values, stores the result in a memory location 'res' and finally displays the result.

SYS_EXIT equ 1
SYS_READ equ 3
SYS_WRITE equ 4
STDIN equ 0
STDOUT equ 1

segment .data

msg1 db "Enter a digit ", 0xA,0xD

len1 equ $- msg1

msg2 db "Please enter a second digit", 0xA,0xD

len2 equ $- msg2

msg3 db "The sum is: "

len3 equ $- msg3

segment .bss

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 num1 resb 2
num2 resb 2
res resb 1

section .text
global main ;must be declared for using gcc
main: ;tell linker entry point
mov eax, SYS_WRITE
mov ebx, STDOUT
mov ecx, msg1
mov edx, len1
int 0x80

mov eax, SYS_READ

mov ebx, STDIN
mov ecx, num1
mov edx, 2
int 0x80

mov eax, SYS_WRITE

mov ebx, STDOUT
mov ecx, msg2
mov edx, len2
int 0x80

mov eax, SYS_READ

mov ebx, STDIN
mov ecx, num2
mov edx, 2
int 0x80

mov eax, SYS_WRITE

mov ebx, STDOUT
mov ecx, msg3
mov edx, len3
int 0x80

; moving the first number to eax register and second number to ebx
; and subtracting ascii '0' to convert it into a decimal number
mov eax, [number1]
sub eax, '0'
mov ebx, [number2]
sub ebx, '0'

; add eax and ebx

add eax, ebx
; add '0' to to convert the sum from decimal to ASCII
add eax, '0'

; storing the sum in memory location res

mov [res], eax

; print the sum

mov eax, SYS_WRITE
mov ebx, STDOUT
mov ecx, res
mov edx, 1
int 0x80
exit:
mov eax, SYS_EXIT
xor ebx, ebx

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 int 0x80

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces following result:

Enter a digit:
3
Please enter a second digit:
4
The sum is:
7

The program with hardcoded variables:

section .text
global main ;must be declared for using gcc
main: ;tell linker entry point
mov eax,'3'
sub eax, '0'
mov ebx, '4'
sub ebx, '0'
add eax, ebx
add eax, '0'
mov [sum], eax
mov ecx,msg
mov edx, len
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
nwln
mov ecx,sum
mov edx, 1
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
mov eax,1 ;system call number (sys_exit)
int 0x80 ;call kernel

section .data
msg db "The sum is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $ - msg
segment .bss
sum resb 1

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces following result:

The sum is:

7

The MUL/IMUL Instruction

There are two instructions for multiplying binary data. The MUL (Multiply) instruction handles unsigned data and
the IMUL (Integer Multiply) handles signed data. Both instructions affect the Carry and Overflow flag.

SYNTAX:
The syntax for the MUL/IMUL instructions is as follows:

MUL/IMUL multiplier

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Multiplicand in both cases will be in an accumulator, depending upon the size of the multiplicand and the
multiplier and the generated product is also stored in two registers depending upon the size of the operands.
Following section explains MULL instructions with three different cases:

SN Scenarios

When two bytes are multiplied

The multiplicand is in the AL register, and the multiplier is a byte in the memory or in another register. The
product is in AX. High order 8 bits of the product is stored in AH and the low order 8 bits are stored in AL
1

When two one-word values are multiplied

The multiplicand should be in the AX register, and the multiplier is a word in memory or another register. For
example, for an instruction like MUL DX, you must store the multiplier in DX and the multiplicand in AX.

The resultant product is a double word, which will need two registers. The High order (leftmost) portion gets
2 stored in DX and the lower-order (rightmost) portion gets stored in AX.

When two doubleword values are multiplied

When two doubleword values are multiplied, the multiplicand should be in EAX and the multiplier is a
doubleword value stored in memory or in another register. The product generated is stored in the EDX:EAX
registers, i.e., the high order 32 bits gets stored in the EDX register and the low order 32-bits are stored in
3 the EAX register.

EXAMPLE:
MOV AL, 10
MOV DL, 25
MUL DL
...
MOV DL, 0FFH ; DL= -1
MOV AL, 0BEH ; AL = -66
IMUL DL

EXAMPLE:
The following example multiplies 3 with 2, and displays the result:

section .text

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 global main ;must be declared for using gcc
main: ;tell linker entry point

mov al,'3'
sub al, '0'
mov bl, '2'
sub bl, '0'
mul bl
add al, '0'
mov [res], al
mov ecx,msg
mov edx, len
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
nwln
mov ecx,res
mov edx, 1
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
mov eax,1 ;system call number (sys_exit)
int 0x80 ;call kernel

section .data
msg db "The result is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $- msg
segment .bss
res resb 1

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces following result:

The result is:

6

The DIV/IDIV Instructions

The division operation generates two elements - a quotient and a remainder. In case of multiplication, overflow
does not occur because double-length registers are used to keep the product. However, in case of division,
overflow may occur. The processor generates an interrupt if overflow occurs.
The DIV (Divide) instruction is used or unsigned data and the IDIV (Integer Divide) is used for signed data.

SYNTAX:
The format for the DIV/IDIV instruction:

DIV/IDIV divisor

The dividend is in an accumulator. Both the instructions can work with 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit operands. The
operation affects all six status flags. Following section explains three cases of division with different operand size:

SN Scenarios

When the divisor is 1 byte

1 The dividend is assumed to be in the AX register (16 bits). After division, the quotient goes to the AL register
and the remainder goes to the AH register.

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 When the divisor is 1 word

The dividend is assumed to be 32 bits long and in the DX:AX registers. The high order 16 bits are in DX and the
low order 16 bits are in AX. After division, the 16 bit quotient goes to the AX register and the 16 bit remainder
goes to the DX register.

When the divisor is doubleword

The dividend is assumed to be 64 bits long and in the EDX:EAX registers. The high order 32 bits are in EDX
and the low order 32 bits are in EAX. After division, the 32 bit quotient goes to the EAX register and the 32 bit
remainder goes to the EDX register.

EXAMPLE:
The following example divides 8 with 2. The dividend 8 is stored in the 16 bit AX register and thedivisor 2 is
stored in the 8 bit BL register.

section .text
global main ;must be declared for using gcc
main: ;tell linker entry point
mov ax,'8'
sub ax, '0'
mov bl, '2'
sub bl, '0'
div bl
add ax, '0'

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 mov [res], ax
mov ecx,msg
mov edx, len
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
nwln
mov ecx,res
mov edx, 1
mov ebx,1 ;file descriptor (stdout)
mov eax,4 ;system call number (sys_write)
int 0x80 ;call kernel
mov eax,1 ;system call number (sys_exit)
int 0x80 ;call kernel

section .data
msg db "The result is:", 0xA,0xD
len equ $- msg
segment .bss
res resb 1

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces following result:

The result is:

4

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