In the warm glow of the MicroBasement, TEA (Tiny Editor/Assembler) by Christopher A. Titus stands as a compact, powerful tool for 8080/8085 builders who wanted to edit and assemble code directly on their hardware. Published in 1979 by Howard W. Sams & Co. (ISBN 0-672-21628-0) as part of the Blacksburg Continuing Education Series, this 256-page paperback provided a complete co-resident editor and two-pass assembler that lived in memory alongside the user's program. It turned bare 8080/8085 systems (Altair, IMSAI, SDK-85, homebrew boards) into self-contained development environments without needing paper tape, cassette, or a separate terminal host. In the MicroBasement collection, TEA sits proudly beside the 8080/8085 Software Design books, the 8085A Cookbook, and Titus family titles — a testament to how one focused program could make assembly-language programming immediate and affordable for hobbyists.
Christopher A. Titus (born 1950), brother of Jonathan A. Titus (Mark-8 designer and TRS-80 interfacing author), was a Virginia Tech educator and prolific contributor to the Blacksburg series alongside David G. Larsen and Peter R. Rony. TEA was published in 1979 by Howard W. Sams & Co. as a practical companion to the group's microprocessor books. The book's focus was TEA itself — a resident assembly-language program that provided line editing and two-pass assembly — with full source listings so readers could load, modify, or port it to their own systems.
The book is dedicated almost entirely to TEA: its design, operation, and source code. It begins with an overview of resident editors/assemblers and why they were essential for standalone microcomputer development. Chapters cover TEA's architecture, memory usage (typically loaded in low RAM), command set (line editing, insert/delete, search/replace, assembly commands), symbol table handling, two-pass assembly process, error reporting, and listing output options. The core of the book is the complete hexadecimal source listing of TEA itself (with comments), allowing readers to enter it via front panel, tape, or serial loader. Later sections explain how to customize TEA, interface it to terminals (TTY, CRT), add features like macros or conditional assembly, and use it with common 8080/8085 hardware. Appendices include opcode tables, ASCII charts, and TEA command summaries.
Titus made TEA accessible: the program was small enough to fit in limited RAM (often 4–8K), loaded quickly, and worked with minimal I/O (serial port or front panel). Users could type source code line-by-line, edit mistakes on the fly, assemble in two passes, and jump to the resulting object code for immediate execution. The book included step-by-step loading instructions, debugging tips for TEA itself, and examples of writing and assembling small programs (utility routines, I/O drivers). It was ideal for hobbyists building controllers, monitors, or learning assembly without expensive development systems — a true "co-resident" tool that lived in memory with the user's code.
TEA: An 8080/8085 Co-Resident Editor/Assembler represents one of the critical turning points in hobbyist microprocessor development. By providing a complete, modifiable resident editor/assembler with full source code, Christopher A. Titus empowered builders to create and debug software directly on their 8080/8085 machines — no host computer required. It influenced countless homebrew projects, educational courses, and early embedded firmware efforts, helping bridge the gap from kit-building to serious programming. Preserving and demonstrating this book is essential because it embodies the foundational efforts of educators and engineers who created the pathways for modern assembly-language tools and embedded development. In the MicroBasement, its pages rest beside the 8080/8085 Software Design series, Titus family titles, and early 8085 hardware — a quiet reminder that a small, well-documented program could turn a bare microcomputer into a self-sufficient development station.