plouff@levers.dec.com (Wes Plouff) (06/08/89)
Just when I thought it was safe to write off _Dr. Dobbs Journal_ as
having a severe case of Binocular Limited Focus, along came the July
issue with an emphasis on graphics programming. Right there on page 36
is "Multitasking OS and Graphics Coprocessors," by Usenet regular Chuck
McManis.
Chuck argues for the performance gain realized by the combination of
multitasking and graphics hardware, illustrated by the Amiga OS and
hardware. These 'illustrations' turn out to be a nice tutorial on key
Amiga concepts. The overall tone of the article is very positive while
telling technically sophisticated readers just enough to get their
curiosity aroused. Chuck includes two short demo programs which show
how easy it is to use the Copper and Blitter in the Amiga OS environment.
The last third of the article explains the relationships between
graphics data structures, graphics-related libraries and the custom chip
set in the clearest description I have yet seen in print.
I liked Chuck's non-threatening comparisons to other machines a lot.
The impression the article leaves me with, especially in comparison with
the other graphics pieces, is that Amiga really has its graphics
performance act together compared to those other popular brands. Now,
we already knew that, but I expect that this article will alert some of
the right people to the Amiga alternative. Which right people? Just
look at the front cover.
Congratulations, Chuck. IMO, this is the best Amiga article in the
general computer press since the comparison of Amiga to Macintosh
programming styles in _Byte_ more than two years ago.
Wes Plouff
--
Wes Plouff, Digital Equipment Corp, Littleton, Mass.
plouff%levers.dec@decwrl.dec.com
-or- {ulowell|harvard}!m2c!jjmhome!beeline!plouff -my A1000
"Future versions will continue to improve the language for use in
cutting-edge environments such as OS/2 and AmigaDOS."
Ad for Lattice C 6.0 in same issue of _Dr. Dobbs Journal_