bench51 — a TUI 8051 assembler, simulator & debugger

A small, Keil µVision-style IDE for the Intel 8051 that runs in your terminal. Write assembly in the built-in editor, assemble it, inspect the listing and Intel HEX output, then run, pause and single-step the program while watching registers, SFRs, memory, ports, timers, interrupts and the serial port.

Built in Rust with ratatui. It is a learning tool, not a cycle-exact replacement for a vendor simulator.

Editor + assembled listing	Breakpoint inside a timer ISR, SFR view
Assembler errors in the gutter and Errors tab	Intel HEX output

Why this exists

I had microcontroller practicals to get through, and the course expects you to use Keil µVision. Keil µVision doesn't run on Linux. Rather than fight with Wine or a Windows VM every lab session, I wrote my own: bench51 does the parts of µVision those practicals actually need (write the code, assemble it, look at the listing and HEX, step through it and watch the registers) right in the terminal.

Features

• Editor with undo/redo, breakpoint and error markers in the gutter — or press Ctrl-G to edit in your own $EDITOR (vim, nvim, nano, …).
• Two-pass assembler for the full 8051 instruction set (all 255 opcodes):
  • labels, expressions (+ - * / MOD AND OR XOR NOT SHL SHR HIGH LOW, $)
  • number formats 42, 2Ah, 0x2A, 101010b, 52o, '*'
  • bit addressing (P1.3, ACC.7, 20h.0) and all predefined SFR/bit names
  • directives ORG DB DW DS END EQU SET BIT DATA IDATA XDATA CODE CSEG AT
  • generic JMP/CALL (assembled as LJMP/LCALL)
  • Keil-style .lst listing with symbol table, Intel HEX output
• Simulator
  • all instructions with correct flags (CY, AC, OV, P) and machine-cycle counts
  • 4 register banks, 256 bytes IRAM, SFRs, 64K code, 64K XRAM
  • ports P0–P3 with latch vs. pin semantics (read-modify-write reads the latch)
  • timers 0/1 in modes 0–3, gate and counter inputs
  • interrupts: INT0, T0, INT1, T1, serial; two priority levels; edge/level triggers
  • UART in modes 0–3 with baud rate timing from timer 1
  • idle and power-down modes (PCON)
• Debugger: run / pause, step into / over / out, run to cursor, breakpoints, changed-value highlighting, memory poke, adjustable speed.
• Open .hex files: they're disassembled into editable source that re-assembles to the identical image.

Usage

cargo install --path .                               # installs the `bench51` binary

cargo run --release -- examples/serial_hello.asm      # open in the TUI
cargo run --release                                   # start with a template
cargo run --release -- firmware.hex                   # disassemble & debug a HEX file

# Headless assembly: writes prog.hex and prog.lst
cargo run --release -- --assemble prog.asm
cargo run --release -- --assemble prog.asm -o out.hex --lst out.lst

--clock <MHz> sets the oscillator frequency used for the elapsed-time display (default 11.0592).

Keys

Edit mode: Alt-1/2/3 switch between Listing, HEX and Errors; Alt-↑/↓, Alt-PgUp/PgDn scroll them. The editor uses Emacs-style keys (Ctrl-U undo, Ctrl-R redo, Ctrl-Y paste).

Debug mode: Tab cycles focus between Source, Memory, Ports and Serial. Letter shortcuts work too, for terminals that swallow function keys: r run/pause, s step, n step over, o step out, g run to cursor, b breakpoint, x reset, i/f/d/c show IRAM/SFR/XRAM/CODE, p poke memory, +/- speed, . jump to PC, Esc pause / back to editor.

• Ports: select a pin and press Space to pull it low from outside (a button press); the program sees the pin as latch AND external level.
• Serial: type a line and press Enter to send it (followed by CR) to the 8051's receiver; everything the 8051 transmits appears above.

Examples

Notes and limitations

• Indirect addressing reaches all 256 bytes of IRAM (8052-style upper 128).
• Serial input has no 9th data bit; in modes 2/3 RB8 reads 0.
• No 8052 timer 2, external code memory or on-chip peripherals of derivatives.

Development

cargo test     # assembler, CPU, peripheral and example-program tests
cargo clippy

Code layout: src/isa.rs (opcode table shared by everything), src/asm/ (assembler, listing, Intel HEX), src/sim/ (CPU, peripherals, disassembler), src/ui/ (ratatui front end).