Microprocessor Design/Assembler

Simply having a new microprocessor is not much of a benefit, unless you have a way to program it. The most simple and direct way to program a microprocessor is through the use of an assembler. An assembler converts mnemonics into corresponding machine code instructions. Once you have an ISA, it's a trivial task to map mnemonics to the various instruction opcodes. Once an ISA is finalized, the design work can usually be split into two teams: a hardware team to design the datapath and control units, and a software team to write an assembler and other programs, such as a simulator and a compiler. This is not the way it is always done, however, as a single group of people is perfectly capable of doing both sets of tasks.