cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (11/09/88)
I sent this reply to Don, and he suggested I post it since he couldn't repost it. I've reformatted it a bit so Don won't recognize it :-) >* Does it help to be a certified developer? In what way? Yes, the Amiga Mail subscription gets you some nice code for things that are pretty tough, the Hardware discounts get you into a "power" system faster, and the "$20 item" (I have the IFF docs) can be a real winner when if you need something they offer. (On my renewel I'll be getting the 1.3 Developers Update). >* Is a lot of your time spent in scavenging existing PD source code? What? At first, I looked through the programs on the Fish Disks but then realized that at least in the early ones those authors had a little knowledge as I did. So I started experimenting. Now after experimenting I learned that the Amiga is interesting in "chunks" and each chunk can be learned relatively independently of the other. In listing the chunks, I decided that they looked a lot like the merit badges that Scouts got for mastering certain skills. So now they form the basis of the Amiga Merit Badge System (AMBS) [believe me, if I could think of an L word that would make them into LAMBS and thus another amiga/animal pun I'd add it]. All I need is a competency test for each one and some nifty artwork and we could have some real badges made up :-). Now the point is that as a programmer, one usually doesn't know where to start or how to get there. As we clarify these things maybe we can come up with references for them. So the Merit Badges are in order of least to most difficult (actually pretty arbitrary on my part) : o Graphics - This is pretty easy once you get the "feel" for the system layout. Everything hinges on the RastPort structure, doing draws and fills etc you learn about AreaMove() and it's kin. Generally you can use the screen RastPort and use zero input from the screen. o DOS - This involves learning how Locks and such work, using the Amiga's Open() and Examine() calls. Exploring the device list and learning about how handlers are used in the DOS world. o Intuition - This is a little tougher mostly because you have to figure out what all the structures signify. Reading the Intuition Manual is a good help here although there is probably a market for a book on Intuition. Understanding Menus, Gadgets, and IntuiMessages are the key, then you can build on your graphics knowledge to start building interactive applications. o Workbench - A short step on the road to wizardness, you learn how to recognize you have started from the workbench and what to do about it. Next thing you know you will be cursing other applications that don't have a workbench interface. o Libraries and Devices - Really one in the same, these are one of the key strengths of the Amiga. Learning how to build a shared library is difficult only because all of the documentation is scattered wildly. Fortunately there are several examples the best being Jim Mackraz's ezlibrary and Matt Dillion simple library. o Audio - Why is audio so late in the list ? Mainly because it has a very raw interface that one has to use to talk to it. As libraries get built on top of this things get much better. For now though, to use digitized sound you first have to know devices. o Interrupts and Servers - Once devices are mastered it is a short hop to Interrupt servers and handlers. Now you get into the real world response that multitasking on the Amiga does so well. Again the documentation is not as complete as it could have been but there are good examples in the Public domain from Matt Dillion and Jim Mackraz. o Blitter and Copper - The holy grail of most Amiga Hackers these two chips can do things that the people who built them won't believe. Programming them requires twisting your brain to mush but can yield fantastic results. They are well documented in the Hardware manual but programming them was a black art until Tom Rokicki's BlitLab program and Jim Mackraz's Copper Demos. So for ranking how about this proposal : 0 - 1 Merit badges - Novice. 2 - 3 Merit badges - Programmer. 4 - 5 Merit badges - Developer. 6 - 7 Merit badges - Expert. all 8 Merit Badget - Wizard. We can probably specify "with <language> cluster" where language is one of <C, Assembly, BASIC, Modula-2, Fortran, Lisp, Forth, etc> >* Any recommendations of books other than the A-W books? The developers conference notes. Available from CATS the Montery notes are available now, the Washington DC ones are available soon. >* Do you use s/w dev tools like PowerWindows, InnovaTools, others? No, I generally write my own toolkits that I am comfortable with and stick with them. >* Do you use BIX, or other BBS for s/w libraries? Comments? I like BIX, but as a moderator it is free for me. Lots of stuff in the Amiga conferences (as much as usenet with fewer flames), but it is expensive. You also get a direct line to Commodore CATS in the amiga.dev conference. That can make things like registering a FORM very easy. Other vendors that are active on BIX are Lattice, ASDG, MicroBotics, and MicroSmiths. >* Are there any tool kits for commonly used items (all categories)? Rob Peck has an Audio Toolkit, Most of the other stuff is roll your own. >* Did I forget anything? No not really. Although by putting it down on paper I think I have the basis for a merit badge system :-). <see above> --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner) (11/10/88)
From article <76613@sun.uucp>, by cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis): > Amiga Merit Badge System (AMBS) [believe me, if I could think of > an L word that would make them into LAMBS and thus another amiga/animal > pun I'd add it]. Learners Amiga Merit Badge System or Learning the Amiga Merit Badge System ? Poof! LAMBS! -- Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland 580 Arapeen Drive, SLC, Utah 84108 Here: utah-cs!esunix!blgardne {ucbvax,allegra,decvax}!decwrl!esunix!blgardne There: uunet!iconsys!caeco!pedro!worsel!blaine (under construction) "Nobody will ever need more than 64K." "Nobody needs multitasking on a PC."