Assembly can be a dry subject but is a necessary skill for many involved in computer engineering and developing.
This article suggests delving into the world of assembly by studying how the FFmpeg project decodes video data, and there are extensive resources to help learn this process.
Assembly unlocks a deeper understand of how compilers function while also being vital for time-critical code, especially in video processing.
The codebase uses single instruction multiple data (SIMD) opcodes which allow for adding or subtracting data points quickly via parallel processing rather than looping.
Assembly is still a necessary skill, even over 20 years later, especially for lower-level programming and optimisation.
SIMD mode is still used extensively in more modern assemblers such as ARM Neon, and there are many resources and guides to help learn this.
