Typing Speed Test — Semester Project

x86-64 Assembly + Qt C++ | Windows 11

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Project Overview

Layer	Technology	Purpose
GUI	Qt 5/6 Widgets (C++)	Window, buttons, timer, display
Core Logic	x86-64 NASM Assembly	Character analysis, word counting
Communication	Temp files (Option A)	Qt writes input; ASM writes output

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Directory Structure

TypingSpeedTest/
├── asm/
│   └── typing_analyzer.asm      ← Assembly source (NASM)
├── main.cpp                     ← Qt entry point
├── mainwindow.h                 ← Main window declaration
├── mainwindow.cpp               ← Main window implementation
├── TypingSpeedTest.pro          ← Qt project file (qmake)
├── CMakeLists.txt               ← CMake build file (alternative)
├── build_asm.bat                ← Script to assemble the .asm file
└── README.md                    ← This file

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Prerequisites

1. NASM (Netwide Assembler)

• Download: https://www.nasm.us/pub/nasm/releasebuilds/
• Install the Windows x64 installer
• Add to PATH: C:\Program Files\NASM\

Verify:

nasm -v

2. Qt + MinGW

• Download Qt Online Installer: https://www.qt.io/download-open-source
• Install Qt 5.15 or Qt 6.x with MinGW 64-bit component
• Qt Creator is included

3. MinGW GCC (for linking ASM)

• Usually installed with Qt. Verify:

gcc --version

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Build Instructions

Step 1 — Assemble the NASM file

Open Command Prompt (not PowerShell) in the project root:

build_asm.bat

This produces: asm\typing_analyzer.exe

Manual alternative:

nasm -f win64 asm\typing_analyzer.asm -o asm\typing_analyzer.obj
gcc -o asm\typing_analyzer.exe asm\typing_analyzer.obj -lkernel32 -nostartfiles -e main

Step 2 — Build the Qt Application

Option A — Qt Creator (recommended):

1. Open Qt Creator
2. File → Open File or Project → select TypingSpeedTest.pro
3. Configure kit: Desktop Qt (MinGW 64-bit)
4. Build → Build Project (Ctrl+B)
5. Run (Ctrl+R)

Option B — Command line (qmake):

qmake TypingSpeedTest.pro
mingw32-make

Option C — CMake:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -G "MinGW Makefiles"
mingw32-make

Step 3 — Ensure exe placement

After building, typing_analyzer.exe must be in the same folder as TypingSpeedTest.exe.

The .pro file and CMakeLists.txt both include a post-build copy step that handles this automatically.

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How It Works

Typing Test Flow

User clicks Start
        │
        ▼
Qt picks random sentence → displays it
Qt starts QElapsedTimer + QTimer (display refresh)
        │
User types in the text box
        │
User clicks Submit
        │
        ▼
Qt stops timer, records elapsed seconds
Qt writes two-line input file to %TEMP%\typing_in.txt:
    Line 1: original sentence
    Line 2: user-typed text
        │
        ▼
Qt launches typing_analyzer.exe via QProcess:
    typing_analyzer.exe "C:\...\typing_in.txt" "C:\...\typing_out.txt"
        │
Assembly reads file, analyzes, writes result file:
    Line 1: correct_chars
    Line 2: incorrect_chars
    Line 3: total_chars
    Line 4: word_count
        │
        ▼
Qt reads result file, calculates:
    Accuracy % = (correct × 100) / total
    WPM        = word_count / (elapsed_seconds / 60)
        │
        ▼
Qt displays all results in the Results panel

Assembly Functions

Function	Description
parse_args	Extracts input/output file paths from command line
copy_line	Copies one line from file buffer, handles CR/LF
analyze_text	Main loop: character comparison + word counting
build_output	Formats 4 integers as text lines
append_decimal	Converts 64-bit integer to ASCII decimal (no CRT)

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Example Run

Sentence: Assembly language is powerful Typed: Assembly language is powerfull

Assembly outputs:

28
1
29
4

Qt calculates:

Accuracy : (28 × 100) / 29 = 96.6%
WPM      : 4 / (15/60)     = 16

Displayed:

Correct Characters:   28
Incorrect Characters:  1
Accuracy:           96.6%
WPM:                  16
Time Taken:         15.0 sec

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
nasm: command not found	Add NASM to PATH or use full path
gcc: command not found	Add MinGW to PATH
Linking error	Try ld instead of gcc; see build_asm.bat
typing_analyzer.exe not found	Copy it next to TypingSpeedTest.exe manually
Qt Creator can't find kit	Configure a Desktop Qt MinGW 64-bit kit in Qt Creator settings
App opens then crashes	Run from Qt Creator in Debug mode; check QProcess exit code

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