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I am trying to learn 8086 assembly. this is the stack part of a 8086 assembly code :

 STACK  SEGMENT STACK
 DW 50 DUP(?)
 TOP_STACK Label Word 
 STACK  ENDS

what is the purpose of TOP_STACK Label Word ?
i couldn't find Label keyword in 8086 instruction set.
is this line a directive or an instruction? and what is the application of TOP_STACK? is TOP_STACK a variable or should I use it like a variable?

user175023
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1 Answers1

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It is a directive of your assembler, which I assume is masm (you should have said so). See the relevant page in the msdn documentation.

The purpose is to define a pointer to the end of your stack. There is no storage allocated there, you should not use it as a variable. Presumably it will be used by the code to set up the initial stack pointer.

Jester
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