I've created this simple and pointless assembly (Y86) code to see if I understand everything that's happening in the stack when the instructions call, pushl, popl and ret are used.
Like I said, this code is pointless, it's just for testing/learning purposes. Although, all memory addresses were correctly (hopeful) calculated and are not random.
The assembly code is the following:
| .pos 0
0x00 | irmovl Stack, %esp
0x06 | rrmovl %esp, %ebp
0x08 | irmovl $5, %eax
0x0E | call func
0x13 | halt
0x14 | func:
0x14 | pushl %ebp
0x16 | rrmovl %esp, %ebp
0x18 | pushl %eax
0x1A | popl %eax
0x1C | popl %ebp
0x1E | ret
| .pos 50
0x32 | Stack: .long 0
The following is my best to draw a stack and explain what each step (instruction) does with the stack. Please note that I used SP and BP to refer to %esp and %ebp respectively cause they are used a lot and makes it easier to read.
What I want to know is if I got everything above right or if I missed anything. Please feel free to copy/paste whatever you want and fix some step(s) in your answer.
Also note that my understanding of this is very important, I have an exam Monday for which I need to be prepared and I would like the best answer you can give me. Depending on your answers, I might (or not) have some related questions that we shall take care in the comments section.
- INSTRUCTION: irmovl Stack, %esp
- INSTRUCTION: rrmovl %esp, %ebp
1) Point %esp (SP) and %ebp (BP) to Stack
| ... |
0x2E |-------|
| |
0x32 |-------| <--- SP & BP
- INSTRUCTION: irmovl $5, %eax
1) Sets %eax = 5
- INSTRUCTION: call func
1) Decrements SP by 4 (0x32 -> 0x2E)
2) Saves return address (0x13) in memory location pointed by SP (0x2E)
3) Jumps to "func" memory address (0x14)
| ... |
0x2A |-------|
| 0x13 |
0x2E |-------| <--- SP
| |
0x32 |-------| <--- BP
- INSTRUCTION: pushl %ebp
1) Decrements SP by 4 (0x2E -> 0x2A)
2) Saves BP value (0x32) in memory location pointed by SP (0x2A)
| ... |
0x26 |-------|
| 0x32 |
0x2A |-------| <--- SP
| 0x13 |
0x2E |-------|
| |
0x32 |-------| <--- BP
- INSTRUCTION: rrmovl %esp, %ebp
1) Sets BP = SP (0x32 -> 0x2A)
| ... |
0x26 |-------|
| 0x32 |
0x2A |-------| <--- SP & BP
| 0x13 |
0x2E |-------|
| |
0x32 |-------|
- INSTRUCTION: pushl %eax
1) Decrements SP by 4 (0x2A -> 0x26)
2) Saves %eax value (5) in memory location pointed by SP (0x26)
| ... |
0x22 |-------|
| 5 |
0x26 |-------| <--- SP
| 0x32 |
0x2A |-------| <--- BP
| 0x13 |
0x2E |-------|
| |
0x32 |-------|
- INSTRUCTION: popl %eax
1) Saves value (5) in memory location pointed by SP (0x26) in %eax
2) Increments SP by 4 (0x26 -> 0x2A)
| ... |
0x22 |-------|
| 5 |
0x26 |-------|
| 0x32 |
0x2A |-------| <--- SP & BP
| 0x13 |
0x2E |-------|
| |
0x32 |-------|
- INSTRUCTION: popl %ebp
1) Saves value (0x32) in memory location pointed by SP (0x2A) in %ebp
2) Increments SP by 4 (0x2A -> 0x2E)
| ... |
0x22 |-------|
| 5 |
0x26 |-------|
| 0x32 |
0x2A |-------|
| 0x13 |
0x2E |-------| <--- SP
| |
0x32 |-------| <--- BP
- INSTRUCTION: ret
1) Jumps to memory address (0x13) in memory location pointed by SP (0x2E)
2) Increments SP by 4 (0x2E -> 0x32)