# Echo stdin to stdout

This is your first assembly language project. The program, befitting a
first project, is straight forward. In a loop, it reads 1 byte from
`stdin` and writes it to `stdout`. See below for how the program is made
to exit.

## Using man pages

Below you will find references using and reading *man* pages. This is
how the early Unix system supplied their documentation and this is still
used.

*Warning: don't use man from the Macintosh terminal!*

Apple changed some function signatures and meanings. Use man only from
the WSL or Linux command line to be certain you're getting the right
information.

## Invocation

### From the keyboard

If you simply run the program, it will read your keystrokes. When
you hit enter, the line you typed will be written back to you.
Execution stops when you:

a) hit ^c (control C) - this sends a signal to the receiving process
   which usually kills it.

b) you enter an end-of-file - ^d (control D) on Linux.

Sample:

```text
a@PROMETHEUS:~/repos/pk_echo$ ./a.out
Foo
Foo
a@PROMETHEUS:~/repos/pk_echo$
```

I invoked the program and typed "Foo" and hit enter. The program wrote
back "Foo" and a new line. Then I hit ^d so the program exited.

### From redirection

An awsome feature of the command line is the ability to redirect input
and output. Since the program simply reads from `stdin`, and `stdin` can
be redirected, you get this feature for free:

```text
a@PROMETHEUS:~/repos/pk_echo$ ./a.out < README.md 
# pk_echo
A COMPORG project suitable for 1st project
a@PROMETHEUS:~/repos/pk_echo$ 
```

## `stdin` and `stdout`

You know what `cin` and `cout` are. They are built on top of `stdin` and
`stdout`. These in turn devolve down into input and output channels
denoted by *file descriptors*. See next:

| File Descriptor | Name | C++ Equivalence |
| - | - | - |
| 0 | stdin | cin |
| 1 | stdout | cout |
| 2 | stderr | cerr |

## `read()` and `write()`

The lowest level I/O on a Linux system are `read()` and `write()`. Here
are their signatures:

```c
ssize_t read(int fd, void *buf, size_t count);
ssize_t write(int fd, const void *buf, size_t count);
```

First, let's examine the types and their correspondence to register
types.

| Type | Equivalence | Register Type |
| - | - | - |
| ssize_t | long | x |
| int | int | w |
| void * | void * | x |
| size_t | unsigned long | x |

You are expected to use the correct register types.

To get detailed information on these two calls, use the `man` pages.

`man 2 read`

`man 2 write`

From this documentation you can determine the meaning of what they
return. The return value of `read()`, if not 1, should cause your
program to gracefully exit. A negative return value from `write()`
should cause an error message to be printed using `perror()` followed by
a graceful exit.

## `perror()`

There is an externally defined integer variable called `errno` that
receives error codes from various functions including those in the
C runtime library (CRTL). Reading the documentation indicated above
will mention `errno`.

The CRTL provides the function `perror()` to `p`rint `error`s.
`perror()` interprets `errno` to generate an error message for you.
This is the signature of `perror()`:

```c
 void perror(const char *s);
 ```

 The argument `s` points to a null terminated C string that is prepended
 to the error message.

 The man page can be accessed here:

 `man 3 perror`

## `read()` needs a buffer

The second argument to both `read()` and `write()` is a `void *`. This
is a generic pointer - it points to a location in memory that's
considered just bytes.

In your `data` segment, I suggest declaring a fixed buffer. There's no
reason not to make it 8 bytes long knowing that you will only ever fill
one byte.

## Special registers

Remember to begin your program with:

```text
        stp     x29, x30, [sp, -16]!
        mov     x29, sp
```

and end it with:

```text
        ldp     x29, x30, [sp], 16
        mov     w0, wzr
        ret
```

## Other reminders

* Remember to have a `main` marked as global.

* Remember to `.align`.

* Remember to have a `.text` segment

* Remember to end your program with `.end`

## Work rules

All work is done alone. No partners.

## Expectations

The following is provided to set your expectations and is not a
challenge. Including some comments and blank lines, my solution runs
35 lines. You have one week to write about 35 lines plus one grace day.
You should be able to crush this if you ask questions and read my book.
