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I also understood the title to mean writing an assembler rather than writing assembly language code, and I've never heard anyone refer to writing assembly as wr

I also understood the title to mean writing an assembler rather than writing assembly language code, and I've never heard anyone refer to writing assembly as writing assembler (or heard anyone who writes assembly referred to as an "assembly code maker", nor anyone who writes in any language referred to as an "<language> code maker"). I could imagine such phrasing being done by non-native English speakers, of which I'm have no doubt that there are a significant number. My (unresearched) guess is that this is simply different dialects of speakers emerging with respect to informal references over the decades.

wtetzner 2y ago
It seems to be pretty common even among native English speakers to use "writing assembler" and "writing assembly" interchangeably. If one were writing the tool that assembles to machine code, you'd say "writing an assembler".
- PittleyDunkin 2y ago
  Normally I'd agree (as a native english speaker with about twenty years of writing assembly under my belt), but the title tripped me up, too. I figured they forgot an "an" or an "s" at the end of "assembler" and i was surprised to find that no 6502 assembler was produced. It could be because I've written three different assemblers over the last two years, though, so it could be i was just projecting my own interests. Still, I don't really care what it's called.
  - wtetzner 2y ago
    I actually prefer "writing assembly", and also think "writing assembler" is a bit confusing. But it feels like I'm several decades too late to complain about it ;)
kwertyoowiyop 2y ago
Using “assembler” instead of “assembly” was common enough back in the day that there was no confusion. There were 100x more people writing “assembler” than writing actual “assemblers” so you know, the odds were good.
snozolli 2y ago
I've never heard anyone refer to writing assembly as writing assembler I used 'assembler' back in high school, when I was learning about the 80x86. I remember because I was 'corrected' by fellow student who had never touched assembler, assembly language, machine code mnemonics, or whatever you want to call it. I have no idea where I got the terminology, but I was reading a lot of books and Usenet posts on the subject at the time. I'm a native English speaker, for what it's worth.
- ndiddy 2y ago
  > I used 'assembler' back in high school, when I was learning about the 80x86. I remember because I was 'corrected' by fellow student who had never touched assembler, assembly language, machine code mnemonics, or whatever you want to call it. Wow, you got the Hacker News experience 30 years in advance!

wtetzner 2y ago

It seems to be pretty common even among native English speakers to use "writing assembler" and "writing assembly" interchangeably. If one were writing the tool that assembles to machine code, you'd say "writing an assembler".

PittleyDunkin 2y ago
Normally I'd agree (as a native english speaker with about twenty years of writing assembly under my belt), but the title tripped me up, too. I figured they forgot an "an" or an "s" at the end of "assembler" and i was surprised to find that no 6502 assembler was produced. It could be because I've written three different assemblers over the last two years, though, so it could be i was just projecting my own interests. Still, I don't really care what it's called.
- wtetzner 2y ago
  I actually prefer "writing assembly", and also think "writing assembler" is a bit confusing. But it feels like I'm several decades too late to complain about it ;)

kwertyoowiyop 2y ago

Using “assembler” instead of “assembly” was common enough back in the day that there was no confusion. There were 100x more people writing “assembler” than writing actual “assemblers” so you know, the odds were good.

snozolli 2y ago

I've never heard anyone refer to writing assembly as writing assembler I used 'assembler' back in high school, when I was learning about the 80x86. I remember because I was 'corrected' by fellow student who had never touched assembler, assembly language, machine code mnemonics, or whatever you want to call it. I have no idea where I got the terminology, but I was reading a lot of books and Usenet posts on the subject at the time. I'm a native English speaker, for what it's worth.

ndiddy 2y ago
> I used 'assembler' back in high school, when I was learning about the 80x86. I remember because I was 'corrected' by fellow student who had never touched assembler, assembly language, machine code mnemonics, or whatever you want to call it. Wow, you got the Hacker News experience 30 years in advance!