MAWA - A language as simple as Python but as powerful as Assembler, modern ASM but much simpler

Source: Dev.to

MAWA – a programming language with Python‑like syntax and the low‑level power of an assembler

Although MAWA has been mentioned before, this post dives into its compilation model and shows a concrete example of a MAWA command.

Background

MAWA aims to be simpler than most languages, both in syntax and in the compilation pipeline.
Traditional C/C++ compilation (source → object → executable → binary) requires several tools.
MAWA, like NASM, compiles directly to a binary image:

• NASM – .asm → .bin
• MAWA – .mawa → .bin (using a custom compiler)

Syntax vs. Assembly

In many assembly or C programs several lines are needed for simple output.
MAWA can express the same operation in a single statement.

MAWA example

Imp ('A', DefFinLinea(1), 'B', 0x0A)
FinalLoop (No Extensiones)

• Imp prints the character 'A', calls DefFinLinea(1) to emit a line break, prints 'B', and finally sets the colour attribute 0x0A.
  • 0x0A → background = 0 (black), foreground = A (light‑green).
• FinalLoop creates an infinite loop to prevent the CPU from reading stray bytes (useful when running under QEMU).

Equivalent NASM – 16‑bit version

BITS 16
startCode:
    mov ax, 0x0003
    int 0x10

    mov ah, 0x09
    mov al, 'A'
    mov bl, 0x0A
    mov bh, 0x00
    mov cx, 1
    int 0x10

    call endLine

    mov ah, 0x09
    mov al, 'B'
    mov bl, 0x0A
    mov bh, 0x00
    mov cx, 1
    int 0x10

    jmp $

endLine:
    mov ah, 0x0E
    mov al, 0x0D
    int 0x10
    mov ah, 0x0E
    mov al, 0x0A
    int 0x10
    ret

times 510 - ($ - $$) db 0
dw 0xAA55

• The code prints A and B using BIOS interrupt 0x10 with colour attribute 0x09.
• endLine inserts the CR+LF bytes (0x0D 0x0A) via interrupt 0x10.
• The final jmp $ creates an infinite loop, mirroring FinalLoop in MAWA.

Equivalent NASM – 32‑bit version

BITS 32
mov edi, 0xB8000          ; VGA text‑mode base address
mov byte [edi], 'A'       ; character
mov byte [edi+1], 0x0A    ; colour (light‑green on black)
add edi, 160              ; move to next line (80 columns × 2 bytes)

mov byte [edi], 'B'
mov byte [edi+1], 0x0A
jmp $                     ; infinite loop

• Directly writes characters and colour attributes into video memory.
• add edi, 160 advances the cursor to the next line.

Comparison

Further work

A larger project, Win Anti App Anchor, is being built with MAWA as its core language. More details will be shared in upcoming posts.

References

• Original MAWA announcement (Spanish):