4.3. Conditional Branches

To use the condition bits in the CPSR, we can use condition codes that correspond to various logical combinations of the bits. Here are the most common codes:

Code	Meaning	Bits
EQ	Equal	Z set
NE	Not Equal	Z clear
GE	Greater or Equal	N == V
LT	Less Than	N != V
GT	Greater Than	(Z == 0) && (N == V)
LE	Less or Equal	(Z == 1) || (N != V)

Tip

You are not responsible for memorizing the bits associated with each code. Focus on making sure you recognize the codes.

There are also some less common codes:

Code	Meaning	Bits
MI	Negative (MInus)	N set
PL	Positive or zero (PLus)	N clear
VS	Overflow	V set
VC	No overflow	V clear
HI	Unsigned higher	C set and Z clear
LS	Unsigned lower or same	C clear or Z set
CS	Unsigned higher or same	C set
CC	Unsigned lower	C clear

These codes can be added to a B instruction to modify the circumstances under which it branches. Like BEQ for “branch if equal” or BGT for “branch if greater than”.

The ARM sample below uses a conditional branch to approximate this C++ code:

if(x == 2)
      y = 5;

On line 10, the assembly does a comparison between r1, where x has been loaded, and 2. Then, on line 11, the branch checks the condition bits set by that operation. If they indicate that the values were not equal to each other, it skips down to the label on line 18. If the values were equal, it continues on after line 11 to the next instruction at 14.

   .data
   x:      .word   2
   y:      .word   0

   .text
   _start:
   LDR     r1, =x      @load x's address
   LDR     r1, [r1]    @r1 = x

   CMP     r1, #2      @test r1 vs 2 (calculate r1 - 2)
   BNE     endIf       @branch past "if body" if r1 Not Equal to 2

   @These instructions only executed if r1 was == 2
   MOV     r2, #5
   LDR     r3, =y      @load y's address
   STR     r2, [r3]    @y = 5

   endIf:
   MOV     r0, r0      @do nothing... rest of program here

Try sample

.data x: .word 2 y: .word 0 .text _start: LDR r1, =x @load x's address LDR r1, [r1] @r1 = x CMP r1, #2 @test r1 vs 2 (calculate r1 - 2) BNE endIf @branch past "if body" if r1 Not Equal to 2 @These instructions only executed if r1 was == 2 MOV r2, #5 LDR r3, =y @load y's address STR r2, [r3] @y = 5 endIf: MOV r0, r0 @do nothing... rest of program here

Warning

Before using the comparison codes, you need to do a comparison to set the condition bits!

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