Overexplaining the x86 nop instruction

the x86_64 `nop` instruction shares the same encoding as `xchg eax, eax` which should technically have side effects, since for example `xchg ecx, ecx` will truncate the top 32bits of rcx. because intel told everyone to use it as the canonical `nop` instruction for 32bit x86, however, it's specialcased into not doing anything.

A black-and-white manga-style scene shows two people standing in front of a large aquarium while one delivers an absurdly detailed explanation of the x86-64 `nop` instruction. The joke is the extreme mismatch between the quiet, romantic-looking setting and an intensely technical discussion of assembly instruction encoding, making it useful as a reaction to unnecessary overexplaining or niche programmer talk.

• @ithueti / 8379 2022-12-09