So, let's discuss why we all use assembler.

1. asm progz are tiny;
2. asm programs run faster.

In other way, there's some other points:

3. There's some people that are not satisfacted with existing software
(filling a hundreds of mBytes on a harddisk);
4. We want to know (almost) ANY instruction in our program.

Now, for the minds of how must look asm of 21th century:

1. alot of macroinstructions - that's why a newbies (like me cannot do any BIG program - beacuse you need to rewritre, for example 'HexOutString' procedure every time u start a new project;
2. (1)st point's FULL documentation;
2. alot of libraries - the same as (1);
3. Visual Resource Builder

Any opinions/additions/suggestions ?

Well.....i not good at ASM.....but i uses FASM.....coz it's cool, easy to learn and the .exes are almost minimun in size.
I think you should rewrite the title of your post......coz in the first place i thought you were questioning FASM ....but i think i was wrong
Bout the Visual Resource Builder....you need to check "FRESH"....the future of FASM as i think.....but i'm not the right person to talk about it....so drop a line to JohnFound, Scientica or Tommy.

FASM IS GREAT!!!!

I started to learn assemlby two years ago for the fact of learning more technical knowledge of programming. I have learned a lot of how C/C++ work since I started to learn assembly.

I will continue to learn, but will never reach anything near an assembly expert. Moderate will do me just fine.

I really enjoy doing assembly because I learn what really I am asking the computer to do for me.
I find it easier because I have the control over everithing related to the performed program.
As I learn assembly (and I am starting, slowly but happy), I am learning about hardware, operating systems, algorithms, optimizations, computer languages, programming paradigms, data structures,.... learning is my purpose and assembly accelerates the process.

My 2 cents:
- Instructions are alot, but I know how to use a few and I use a few. Sometimes I learn how to use one more and I add to the list.

- Libraries are there for you. With assembly you could use your preferred library. Total versatility: you can call whatever thing is there in the memory, no matter in what language was written.

- Resources are common to windows programming. There are tons of resource editors all arround that will fit your purposes.

- Some of the difficulties are related to win32 specific things, nothing to do with assembly, but personally I think it is easier to afford with asm rather than any other language.

- The only important thing is get your programs running.... so keep coding and vivisect the examples.

I learned the Win32 API first when I learned asm, before that I'd used "some" C++ cout/cin while trying to do something useful in C++

- it makes the girls attracted to us

Hmm, what opcode/mnenomic do you use? (hasn't worked for me, yet)

i am thinking about fasm.
i think industry hid the mechanism asm > c from us.
so i think current programming language is not honest.

in real life,
if we learn about something unclear-things, we will never master it.
fasm is clear. so everything is possible, raw power.
not only in computer, in low level, we will see the phenomena of nature.
we all well deal every rapid changeable future.

if we choose high level language, we can't be flexible about our future.
we will be tied company's sugar.

--
regards

what exactly do you mean by that?

I think this is simply a stratergy from the company, not to let one single programmer know more than the other - it wouldn't be "good" for the company if a programmer knew all of the products sources - (s)he might break out and stat his/her own company. This is probably why many programs from bigger companies are bugged (because one the one guy doesn't know how the other guy wrote his pice of code - making it hard to get a bug free conection (ok, (s)he might have been given a procedure prototype by the project manager, by the other guy might have some additional (important) info on some argument))
So basically the companies don't want os to master - they only want us to eran (indirectly, via writing code they sell) money for them. (Ofcourse there are exceptions..)