diff --git a/tyvm.c b/tyvm.c
index 06f053f..03c91a4 100644
--- a/tyvm.c
+++ b/tyvm.c
@@ -104,6 +104,23 @@ void update_flags(uint16_t r) {
     else reg[RG_COND] = FL_P;
 }
 
+/* function to load assembly programs*/
+void read_image_file(FILE* file) {
+    /* image placement memory location */
+    uint16_t origin;
+    fread(&origin, sizeof(origin), 1, file)
+    origin = swap16(origin);
+
+    uint16_t max_read = UINT16_MAX - origin;
+    uint16_t* p = memory + origin;
+    size_t read = fread(p, sizeof(uint16_t), max_read, file);
+
+    /* swapping to little endian */
+    while (read-- > 0) {
+        *p = swap16(*p);
+        ++p;
+    }
+}
 
 int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {