ESP is the current stack pointer. EBP is the base pointer for the current stack frame. When you call a function, typically space is reserved on the stack for local variables. This space is usually referenced via EBP (all local variables and function parameters are a known constant offset from this register for the duration … Read more
Maybe you’re wondering about this: These lines are known as the assembly function prologue. The first 2 instructions save the previous base pointer (ebp) and set EBP to point at that position on the stack (right below the return address). This sets up EBP as a frame pointer. The sub esp,12 line is saving space … Read more
esp is the stack pointer, ebp is/was for a stack frame so that when you entered a function ebp could get a copy of esp at that point, everything on the stack before that happens, return address, passed in parameters, etc and things that are global for that function (local variables) will now be a … Read more