Address Components

All addresses in x86 processors are composed of two parts:

Note: Addresses are usually written with a colon separating the two parts, for example, selector:offset.

A segment or selector
An offset

The offset part will be covered during the review of typical machine instructions, because it is straightforward, and the same in real and protected modes.

Note: These two parts are implicitly or explicitly specified by every instruction that references memory for either or both operands. Generally, the selector is implied and the offset is specified but there are exceptions to this.

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