Writing in assembler is the most disgusting idea in the whole sphere of computer arts. To make humans bow down in servitude to machines for the sole purpose of creating efficient code (which actually isn't more efficient than today's smart compilers) - this is preposterous. I think a good programmer should not know any assembly, should never read any assembly, nay, should be disgusted at the sight of assembly! The programmer should think in the world of pure language and logical patterns, never stopping to think about any "registers" or "pipelines".