Re: C++ programmer and assembly

From:
Walter Bright <walter@digitalmars-nospamm.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++.moderated
Date:
Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:44:29 CST
Message-ID:
<1s6dnbICnsIJuYDbnZ2dnUVZ_qCmnZ2d@comcast.com>
Abhishek Padmanabh wrote:

The question is : how important is it to learn assembly language for a
C++ programmer? Certain people are of the opinion that is strongly
required and certain are not. What could be the reasons behind either
opinion depending upon the variety of applications domains touched by C
++?


You can successfully write C++ code without knowing any assembler.
However, it's been my experience that those programmers who do know
assembler tend to write much better C++ code. The reason is
straightforward - they understand the tools much better, and
understanding them enables you to make better use of them, rather than
being mystified by them.

I've found it to be generally true that people who don't know assembler
have a lot of difficulty writing high performance C++ code. If their
code is fast, it's more based on luck rather than correct reasoning.

It's much faster to debug code if you can look at and understand
assembler. Otherwise, it can be like poking a stick through a cage in
the zoo while blindfolded.

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