Assembly Language Fundamentals

Introduces the Z80 assembly course, its goals, tools, and audience, and sets up the environment to start building basic programs and games on the Tatung Einstein.

Learn to write, assemble and run your first Z80 program by printing HELLO. Understand key instructions, ASCII, arithmetic, and how programs interact with the emulator.

Learn how to control program flow with the JP instruction. Jump to memory addresses to skip code, repeat sections or call routines, and understand how this affects the program counter and memory layout.

Learn how to use JR for short jumps in memory, ideal for loops and nearby branches. Combine it with labels to simplify code, avoid manual address calculations, and make programs easier to read and maintain.

Learn to control program flow with conditional jumps. Use flags like Z to decide when to jump, combine DEC and JR NZ for loops that stop at zero, and build counters for repeated actions.

Learn how to use labels to replace hardcoded jump addresses. Labels make code clearer, easier to maintain, and automatically update if instructions move, removing the need for manual address tracking.

Learn to create reusable subroutines with CALL and RET. Use them to organise code, avoid repetition, and simplify updates. Subroutines act like functions, returning control after execution and can also be called conditionally.

Learn how to read a single key press using the MCAL KEYIN routine, convert its ASCII value, and display the corresponding character on screen.

Learn how to capture a full line of text with ZGETLIN, store it in memory, and process or display it character by character.

Explains how to use register pairs for 16-bit data, store and retrieve values in memory, and draw graphics lines with MCAL routines.

Covers indirect addressing, where register pairs act as pointers to memory. It shows how to store, read, and process data or strings efficiently without hardcoding addresses.

Learn how indexed addressing uses IX or IY as a base plus an offset to access memory efficiently, ideal for working with data tables, arrays, or structured memory layouts in Z80 assembly.