diff --git a/src/assembler/assemble.c b/src/assembler/assemble.c
index c4615bf..4774d15 100644
--- a/src/assembler/assemble.c
+++ b/src/assembler/assemble.c
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <time.h>
+#include <inttypes.h>
 
 #include "../instruction.h"
 
@@ -201,6 +203,56 @@ Program createProgramFromText(const char* input) {
     return program;
 }
 
-void assemble(const char* input, const char* outputFileName) {
-    Program program = createProgramFromText(input);
+void serializeProgramToFile(Program* program, const char* outputFileName) {
+
+    FILE* fp = fopen(outputFileName, "wb");
+    if (fp == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't open file %s for writing\n", outputFileName);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < program->len; i++) {
+        Instruction* inst = &program->at[i];
+
+        uint16_t packed = 0;
+
+        packed |= (SerializedInst)(inst->opcode      & 0b0000000000001111)     ;
+        packed |= (SerializedInst)(inst->operands[0] & 0b0000000000001111) << 4;
+        packed |= (SerializedInst)(inst->operands[1] & 0b0000000000001111) << 8;
+        packed |= (SerializedInst)(inst->operands[2] & 0b0000000000001111) << 12;
+
+        size_t written = fwrite(&packed, sizeof(uint16_t), 1, fp);
+        if (written != 1) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "failed to write %" PRIx16 " into file %s\n", packed, outputFileName);
+            fclose(fp);
+            exit(1);
+        }
+
+        if (inst->hasImm16) {
+            size_t written = fwrite(&inst->immediate, sizeof(uint16_t), 1, fp);
+            if (written != 1) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "failed to write %" PRIx16 " into file %s\n", packed, outputFileName);
+                fclose(fp);
+                exit(1);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    fclose(fp);
+    
+}
+
+void assemble(const char* input, const char* outputFileName) {
+    clock_t start = clock();
+    Program program = createProgramFromText(input);
+    clock_t parsed = clock();
+    serializeProgramToFile(&program, outputFileName);
+    clock_t serialized = clock();
+
+    printf("Finished assembling %s, took %lg seconds (%lg secs parsing, %lg secs serializing)\n", 
+               outputFileName, 
+               (serialized - start) / (long double) CLOCKS_PER_SEC,
+               (parsed - start) / (long double) CLOCKS_PER_SEC,
+               (serialized - parsed) / (long double) CLOCKS_PER_SEC
+          );
 }