Like MIPS and some other architectures, RISC V does not provide dedicated instructions for many things, including two-operand unary operations, as these operations can be had using their three-operand format, usually with x0 as the third operand, but sometimes constant 1 or -1 as the third operand.
For convenience, the assembler will accept what are called pseudo instructions for these unary operations (and others).? Here's a list of the common RISC V pseudo instructions and their replacements.
To do more complex or unlisted things, use math & logic, and as many instructions as needed.
li rd, immediate | Myriad sequences | Load immediate
mv rd, rs | addi rd, rs, 0 | Copy register
not rd, rs | xori rd, rs, -1 | One’s complement
neg rd, rs | sub rd, x0, rs | Two’s complement
negw rd, rs | subw rd, x0, rs | Two’s complement word
sext.w rd, rs | addiw rd, rs, 0 | Sign extend word
seqz rd, rs | sltiu rd, rs, 1 | Set if = zero
snez rd, rs | sltu rd, x0, rs | Set if ?= zero
sltz rd, rs | slt rd, rs, x0 | Set if < zero
sgtz rd, rs | slt rd, x0, rs | Set if > zero
beqz rs, offset | beq rs, x0, offset | Branch if = zero
bnez rs, offset | bne rs, x0, offset | Branch if ?= zero
blez rs, offset | bge x0, rs, offset | Branch if ≤ zero
bgez rs, offset | bge rs, x0, offset | Branch if ≥ zero
bltz rs, offset | blt rs, x0, offset | Branch if < zero
bgtz rs, offset | blt x0, rs, offset | Branch if > zero
bgt rs, rt, offset | blt rt, rs, offset | Branch if >
ble rs, rt, offset | bge rt, rs, offset | Branch if ≤
bgtu rs, rt, offset | bltu rt, rs, offset | Branch if >, unsigned
bleu rs, rt, offset | bgeu rt, rs, offset | Branch if ≤, unsigned
j offset | jal x0, offset | Jump
jal offset | jal x1, offset | Jump and link
jr rs | jalr x0, 0(rs) | Jump register
jalr rs | jalr x1, 0(rs) | Jump and link register
ret | jalr x0, 0(x1) | Return from subroutine
call aa | auipc x1, aa[31 : 12] + aa[11] | Call far-away subroutine
| jalr x1, aa[11:0](x1) | (two instructions)
tail aa | auipc x6, aa[31 : 12] + aa[11] | Tail call far-away subroutine
| jalr x0, aa[11:0](x6) | (also two instructions)
As an aside, there's an educational processor called the LC-3.? It has only three arithmetic/logical operations: ADD, AND, NOT.? Yet students are expected to write code that does multiplication, division, modulus, XOR, OR, etc..!!? Multiplication & division/modulus are done with a loop; XOR and OR are done using logic sequences — we know all the boolean operation can be had using only NAND gates, so having (only) AND & NOT is primitive but sufficient.
My favorite sequence for XOR on that processor comes from this formula:
(A AND NOT B) + (NOT A AND B)
Where here the + is literally ADD, which works as a substitute for OR because the two operands will never both be 1 at the same time, so carry from one bit position to another will not occur, and under those circumstances, ADD and OR are equivalent.
