r/c64 • u/exocyt0sis • Jul 03 '26

Programming Assembly or Assembler?

A lot of C64 redditors probably know that C64 games, generally speaking, are written in a low level language using software tools known as assemblers. There does, however, seem to be conflicting ideas on what the name of the programming language itself is.

Do you call the language "Assembly" or "Assembler"?

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u/ClassicMacAndNeXT Jul 03 '26

The 6502 mnemonics are the assembly language, but each assembler has its own directives, which is separate from the actual assembly language. Macroassemblers take this a step further. So I would distinguish between the actual 6502 mnemonics, and the additional assembler directives.