steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com (Jim Howard) (01/29/88)
I recently purchased Amiga Assembly Language Programming written by Jake Commander, and found the book to be a bit for the beginner.. Im not being precocious but I am looking for something covering more advanced topics, this book seemed to spend most of its time teaching the lay person generic assembler. One of the MAIN reasons to write in assembler is for fast graphics and animations, but the book deals with making a scientific calculator in assembly. Are there any books out there dealing with more advanced topics in Amiga assembler? Thanks .s UUCP: ....!crash!pro-charlotte!steelie | Pro-Charlotte - (704) 567-0029 ARPA: crash!pro-charlotte!steelie@nosc.mil| 300/1200/2400 baud 24 hrs/day INET: steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com | Log in as "register"
dougl@ism780c.UUCP (Doug Leavitt) (01/31/88)
In article <2440@crash.cts.com> steelie@pro-charlotte.cts.com (Jim Howard) writes: >................................................ Are there any books >out there dealing with more advanced topics in Amiga assembler? ....Rumaging around his apartment in a bathrobe looking for his notes he realizes they must be at work...Sigh... [For people who don't care, are upset about commercialism etc. flame me. I can take it. (I deserve it)] Latest update, two things: To Jim the book you may be interested in looking into was called: Assembly Language Programming for the Amiga By Douglas Leavitt and Daniel Wolf From Compute! Publications But the name has been changed: [A right reserved by the Publishers in our contract] The new name [If I had my notes I could be 100% sure] is: Computes! Amiga Machine Language Programming Guide [Not: Computes! Machine Language Programming guide for the Amiga (I think) ] It comes in a Light Blue cover [This I remember] like many of the other Compute! Books with the spiral binding so that it lies flat on the table. The bad news...The printer had some delays with the bindings, and the book won't be leaving the printers this month like I told people earlier. According to my sources the book should be leaving the printers on February 9th [Marked in my calendar] to the distributers. So it should be on book shelves soon after. Orders can be made now. [commercialism part] Jim, the book has about 25 different programming examples in assembly langauge including graphics, intuition etc. examples header files, macros... floppies will be available [with a full amiga compatible assembler on the floppy and all the examples, header files...] from Compute!. [I'm told there is a card or something similar in the back of the book]. Douglas Leavitt { sdcrdcf, uunet, oliveb } !ism780c!dougl dougl@ism780c.isc.com My opinions etc. are my own...and do not relect any opinions etc. of my employer.
val@terminus.UUCP (Val Kartchner) (02/06/88)
I would like some good books on Assembly language too, but... In article <8794@ism780c.UUCP>, dougl@ism780c.UUCP (Doug Leavitt) writes: > > Assembly Language Programming for the Amiga > By Douglas Leavitt and Daniel Wolf > From Compute! Publications > ... as you can see, It's from Compute! Publications. I used to buy "Compute!" magazine until I read their copying restrictions in the front of the magazine. It states (paraphrased) you can't own a copy of this program unless you purchase the magazine. I realize that they should receive something for there efforts, but I just didn't like the way they put it. (A precedent for a magazine not being so restrictive is "Transactor". Look at their policy in the front.) This is why I don't buy anything from Compute! Publications. (Most of) the programs aren't worth the cost of the magazine considering that there are *superior* programs (not written in ABASIC to slow them down) out there that are in the public domain. Most shareware programs are very good (for almost PD), and are worth the contribution (licensing fee, etc.) that the authors ask for them. -- ---- /\ ------------------------------------------------------------------ /\/\ . /\ | Val Kartchner | This space / \/ \/\/ \ | #include <disclaimer.h> | intentionally blank ===/ U i n T e c h \===!ihnp4!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!sp7040!terminus!val===
crooks@ingr.UUCP (Steve Crooks) (12/08/88)
I'd like people's opinions on Amiga assembly language books. The two that I know of are _Amiga Machine Language_ published by Abacus and _Amiga Machine Language Programming Guide_ published by Compute. Questions: 1) Are there any others? 2) Are they any good? 3) What is their general content? 4) What do you like about them? 5) What do you dislike about them? 6) Which one would you recommend? 7) Have they even been published yet? 8) Is there anything else I should know? Either post to the net, or send email and I'll summarize. Thanks, --Steve Crooks ...uunet!ingr!crooks!crooks
cs161agc@sdcc10.ucsd.EDU (John Schultz) (12/10/88)
In article <3193@ingr.UUCP> crooks@ingr.UUCP (Steve Crooks) writes: >I'd like people's opinions on Amiga assembly language books. The two that >I know of are _Amiga Machine Language_ published by Abacus and >_Amiga Machine Language Programming Guide_ published by Compute. >Questions: >1) Are there any others? >2) Are they any good? >--Steve Crooks ...uunet!ingr!crooks!crooks Others: Amiga Assembly Language Programming by Tab Books. I've also got the Abacus book. I recommend them both, as there are extremely inexpensive ($13.95 and $19.95, respectively), and cover different aspects for programming assembly on the Amiga. I'd also recommend a straight 68000 handbook for reference (there are quite a few out there, but try to find one that fills its pages with examples and techniques, not pages and pages of one long program). There's a new one out called "680X0 Programming by Example" ($17.95), a sequel to "68000, 68010,68020 Primer", with hundreds of examples and practical applications [this was a quote from Ahoy's AmigaUser]. From Howard W. Sams & Company, 317-298-5400. I've got a couple of their books for C and they're pretty good. John Schultz
nop@cup.portal.com (Randy G Jouett) (12/10/88)
In some article Steve Crooks asked: >I'd like people's opinions on Amiga assembly language books. The two that >I know of are _Amiga Machine Language_ published by Abacus and >_Amiga Machine Language Programming Guide_ published by Compute. >Questions: >1) Are there any others? A must have: _680x0 -- Programming by Example_ , SAMS. It covers the entire 68K family -- get it. >2) Are they any good? I'm not sure about the Compute book, but keep away from the Abacus book!!!!!!!!! First off, the author runs, no, flys through the instruction set like a bat-out-of-hell -- strike one. Next, almost every single example goes straight to the hardware (I wonder what country this book was written in? :> ) -- strike two. And last, but FAR from least, the english translation of this book (translated from German, evidently) was probably done by the German author;that is, it's 100% broken, hard to read english the whole way through. So, as any old home-town ump might say, "Strike three -- your outta there!" >3) What is their general content? The Abacus-at-it book covers most everything, but leaves much to be desired in the graphics arenna. >4) What do you like about them? The Abacus book has a pretty nice appendix that has all of the LVO's (Library Vector Offset) and their register usage in one easy to find area. That is the only thing I like about the book -- PERIOD! >5) What do you dislike about them? See answer to question 2 >6) Which one would you recommend? Well, you already know my views about the Abacus book, and I haven't looked at the Compute book, so I'll let someone else comment on this. >7) Have they even been published yet? Abacus book -- yes. >8) Is there anything else I should know? That about covers it. >Either post to the net, or send email and I'll summarize. Everyone needs to hear about the failings of the Abacus book, as far as I'm concerned. >Thanks,
Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com (12/12/88)
In answer to your questions about books on Assembler for the Amiga, I have AMIGA Assembly Language Programming from TAB books ($19.95). I would say it was pretty good, but that is a qualified 'good'. There are some gaps and errors (not uncommon in assembler books). If, however, your first language in assembler was Z80, then you will have no trouble understanding it. Jake Commander, of 80Micro fame used to write the TRS-80 Assembler column. Since I learned Z80 first, I understand the references and it helps give me some continuity. If, however, you cut your teeth on another assembler, this may not be the book for you.
lphillips@lpami.van-bc.UUCP (Larry Phillips) (12/12/88)
> >I'd like people's opinions on Amiga assembly language books. The two that > >I know of are _Amiga Machine Language_ published by Abacus and > >_Amiga Machine Language Programming Guide_ published by Compute. > > I'm not sure about the Compute book, but keep away from the Abacus > book!!!!!!!!! First off, the author runs, no, flys through the instruction > set like a bat-out-of-hell -- strike one. Next, almost every single example > goes straight to the hardware (I wonder what country this book was written > in? :> ) -- strike two. And last, but FAR from least, the english translation > of this book (translated from German, evidently) was probably done by the > German author;that is, it's 100% broken, hard to read english the whole way > through. So, as any old home-town ump might say, "Strike three -- your outta > there!" Strike 4 coming up. This book is somewhat specific, in that it uses the Assempro assembler as a base from which to explain things and give examples. Assempro, in case you didn't know, is a toy assembler without linker, and with includes that are non-standard (names changed to protect the ???). Jake Commander's book from TAB isn't too bad, though it falls down somewhat in the examples area, having really only one example, a calculator. The Compute! book is really pretty good, and will get the novice going. -larry -- "Intelligent CPU? I thought you said Intel CPU!" -Anonymous IBM designer- +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | // Larry Phillips | | \X/ lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca or uunet!van-bc!lpami!lphillips | | COMPUSERVE: 76703,4322 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
peter@sugar.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (12/13/88)
[lots of comments on how bad the Abacus books are] Back in my Atari ST days I tried to use the Abacus ST books (you think the RKM is bad... Atari didn't *provide* any manuals). They were horrible... a large part were based on guesses and disassembly of the DOS. -- Peter da Silva `-_-' peter@sugar.uu.net Have you hugged U your wolf today? Disclaimer: My typos are my own damn busines#!rne
space@sns.UUCP (Lars Soltau) (12/16/88)
In article <3089@sugar.uu.net> peter@sugar.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes: >Back in my Atari ST days ... Revealing black spots in your past, eh? :-) -- Lars Soltau UUCP: ...uunet!unido!sns!space BIX: -- no bucks -- Here's looking at you, kid! -- the Medusa
peter@sugar.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (12/18/88)
In article <187@sns.UUCP>, space@sns.UUCP (Lars Soltau) writes: > In article <3089@sugar.uu.net> peter@sugar.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes: > >Back in my Atari ST days ... > Revealing black spots in your past, eh? :-) You don't know the half of it. Some time I must tell you about the multi-screen terminal emulator I did for the IBM-PC as freeware. It let you slide screens up and down just like the Amiga. Or maybe I could scare you with tales of mainframes. Or back when I programmed in Pascal by choice, and thought 'C' stank... Then there was BASIC. Arrr, matey, sit down. Have a swig of rum... easy now, it's tough stuff when you're not used to it. Now then, in the old days when men were men, and minicomputers came with 8K... -- Peter "Have you hugged your wolf today" da Silva `-_-' peter@sugar.uu.net
crooks@ingr.com (Steve Crooks) (01/10/89)
Here are the results of my call for opinions on Amiga assembly language books. I received 7 responses. There are three books available, all with approximately the same name (I can't remember them specifically :-). The publishers are Tab, Abacus, and Compute. The responders rated them approximately thusly: trash not very good ok great Tab 1 4 Abacus 2 1 1 Compute 2 1 The various comments given (paraphrased to save some room): I recommend both the Abacus & Tab books because they cover different aspects for programming assembly on the Amiga. Keep away from the Abacus book! It flys through the instruction set. Almost every single example goes straight to the hardware. The English translation is 100% broken, hard to read English. The only thing I liked about it was it's appendix, which has all the Library Vector Offsets and their register usage in one spot. The Abacus book is somewhat specific, in that it uses the Assempro assembler as a base from which to explain things and give examples. The Tab book falls down somewhat in the examples area. The Compute book is pretty good, and will get the novice going. I would say the Tab book is a qualified ``good''. There are gaps and errors. If your first assembler language was Z80, you will have no trouble understanding it. If you cut your teeth on another assembler, this may not be the book for you. The Compute book is complete and has examples. The Tab book professes to be a book that a novice can learn from. Don't you believe it. It's just reference material, probably straight from Motorola and the RKM. It has only three programming examples. I read over half the book, and I feel that I still don't know the first thing about assembly language. The Tab book is probably good for people unfamiliar to assembly programming in general, and is too "easy" for the rest. A friend of mine is quite satisfied with the Compute book. The Abacus book should be avoided. The Abacus book's appendix is nice, but isn't worth the price of the book. I would recommend the Compute book. You can draw your own conclusions from this. Two people recommended the book _680x0_Programming_by_Example_ published by Sams. They both heartily recommended it. One person recommended _The_Kickstart_Guide_To_The_Amiga_ as a good book for those who have only previous experience with 8-bit computers. Conclusion ---------- While I was collecting and reading these opinions, my wife, a real sweetie, went out and bought me the Compute book. I'm happy with it. One thing I would have preferred is if they had assumed you had the standard Amiga includes and startup. I understand why they didn't do it, I just would have preferred it. They have you create all the startup and include files that are necessary to use the programs in the book, explaining them in the process. A disk can be ordered with everything already on it (including an assembler) to save some typing time. I have the include file set on order from Commodore, so I decided to not type anything in and to just try and get their examples working my own way with Commodore's Amiga.lib and include files. Learn more that way, you know. :-) At worst, the book will make a good reference guide on how to do certain Amiga operations. I discovered while reading it that I actually did pretty much know what I was doing, I just needed to tie a few things together. I do recommend that anyone trying to program anything buy the RKMs. I wish I had a nickel for everytime I've seen the phrase, "for more information on this subject, read the RKM." I'm trying very hard to put off buying it until the new 1.3 version comes out. Anybody have any idea when that might be?????? Happy assembling! --Steve Crooks ...uunet!ingr!crooks!crooks (UUCP) crooks!crooks@ingr.com (Internet)