dasm – macro assembler for 8-bit machines
Posted by jpluimers on 2026/03/04
Finding a reference to DASM while researching yesterday’s post @jpluimers on Twitter: “@b0rk @jilles_com Acids vs bases.”, it felt even more like a trip like memory lane as I had used it in the 1980s on Apple ][ and Apple //e after mainly using EDASM. Lisa and Merlin.
I am glad that it is still alive and kicking with home page at [Wayback/Archive] dasm – macro assembler for 8-bit machines and repository at [Wayback/Archive] dasm-assembler/dasm: Macro assembler with support for several 8-bit microprocessors.
Especially this history section on the home page rang a bell:
- Matthew Dillon started dasm in 1987-1988.
- Olaf “Rhialto” Seibert extended dasm in 1995.
- Andrew “Dr.Boo” Davie maintained dasm in 2003-2008.
- Peter Fröhlich maintained dasm in 2008-2015.
- In 2019, the dasm source code and releases were moved to GitHub.
More links from this trip down memory lane:
- [Wayback/Archive] mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/documentation/programming/6502assembly/Assembly_Cookbook_for_the_Apple_II_IIe.pdf (Assembly Cookbook for the Apple II/lIe)
- [Wayback] dasm 8-bit macro assembler Technical Reference Manual 2.20.16 (PDF)
- Comparison of assemblers: 6502 assemblers – Wikipedia
- Matthew Dillon – Wikipedia
- Merlin downloads:
- Documentation: [Wayback/Archive] public.asimov.net: Index of /documentation/programming/6502assembly/
- Software: [Wayback/Archive] public.asimov.net: Index of /images/programming/assembler/merlin/
Others can be found via the catalog files at [Wayback/Archive] public.asimov.net: Index of /
- On EDASM:
- On 6502 assembly on the Apple ][ family:
- [Wayback/Archive] Apple II-6502 Assembly Language Tutor : Richard E. Haskell : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
[Archive] ia904507.us.archive.org/0/items/appleii6502assemblylanguagetutor_3rdpr_isbn0130392308/Apple II-6502 Assembly Language Tutor; 3rd-Pr%20(Haskell, Richard E.)(1983).pdf
- [Wayback/Archive] 65c02 Assembly programming for the Apple IIe
- [Wayback] Programming Like It’s 1979: 6502 Assembly language on the Apple ][ – YouTube
- [Wayback/Archive] Advanced 6502 Assembly Programming for the Apple II
- [Wayback/Archive] Apple II-6502 Assembly Language Tutor : Richard E. Haskell : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
and of course the bit in the previous blog post: [Wayback/Archive] assembly – What is the significance of $ # and % in 6502? – Stack Overflow (thanks [Wayback/Archive] tabol and [Wayback/Archive] Michael)
A
DASM allows numbers to be expressed in binary, octal, decimal, and hexadecimal.
- Binary numbers use the
%prefix (e.g.%1101).- Octal numbers use the
0prefix (e.g.015).- Decimal numbers use no prefix (e.g.
13).- Hexadecimal numbers use the
$prefix (e.g.$0D).
The#symbol is used to specify immediate addressing:LDA 0 ; Load the byte from address 0 in memory into register A LDA #0 ; Load the value 0 into register AOne can of course combine immediate addressing with a different numeric base, e.g.:LDA #$FF ; Load the value $FF into register A
Queries:
- [Wayback/Archive] “dasm” 6502 “wikipedia” – Google Search
- [Wayback/Archive] “apple II” “dasm” – Google Search
- [Wayback/Archive] merlin assembler site:asimov.net – Google Search
- [Wayback/Archive] “apple ii” 6502 assembler – Google Search
- [Wayback/Archive] “apple ii” “edasm – Google Search
–jeroen
[Wayback] Programming Like It’s 1979: 6502 Assembly language on the Apple ][ – YouTube
[Wayback/Archive] Advanced 6502 Assembly Programming for the Apple II – YouTube






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