Computer programmers used to say ...

The C programming language was touted as being the first programming language in which you could write an assembler without recourse to "assembly language."

It was never clear to me, however, whether the C Assembler you wrote in C could assemble the C Assembler you wrote, or whether you still needed an assembler to assemble the assembler before it could assemble itself to assemble C programs.

Maybe if I'd done more of the homework in that class I audited 40 years ago I'd understand ... ????

John