What is MOV?

Part of the Fundamentals section of Coddy's Assembly journey — lesson 14 of 45.

The MOV instruction is the most fundamental and frequently used instruction in assembly language. Its name stands for "move," and it copies data from one location to another.

Basic Syntax

The MOV instruction follows this pattern:

mov destination, source

The value from the source is copied into the destination. Despite the name "move," it actually copies the data. The original source is unchanged.

A Simple Example

mov rax, 60

This instruction copies the value 60 into the rax register. After execution, rax contains 60. The number 60 is not "used up" or deleted — it is just a number.

Why MOV Matters

Almost everything you do in assembly involves moving data around. Setting up registers for system calls, storing values, transferring data between locations - all of these require MOV.

In the upcoming lessons, we'll explore the different ways you can use MOV: loading immediate values, copying between registers, and more.

Try it yourself

This lesson doesn't include a code challenge.