Which cross assembler/compiler do you use?

[Pengwin]

After the last topic about which environment we use, I got to wondering which was the most popular cross-development system in use.

At the moment, I am using MADS, but the lack of English documentation is starting to frustrate me, so I may switch to ATASM.

So what do you use? And why?

[GroovyBee]

I use CC65 for my 7800 development. I like the fact that I can have separate files both in "C" and assembler and link everything together at the end. I also use makefiles to build everything.

[TMR]

i'm still using Xasm for now - i did consider shifting over to MADS because a few people have said nice things about it but i've got large chunks of unreleased/unfinished code that'd need reformatting and that's a lot of extra work! =-)

[MaPa]

I use XASM just because I choose it four years ago when I started program on ATARI.

[flashjazzcat]

The Last Word is written using ATASM (and is too massive to convert), but for everything else I use MADS. Getting into SDX development is what prompted me to make the switch.

[andym00]

Other: ACME with some custom additions to it..

[Heaven/TQA]

ACME?

[TMR]

ACME?

 

i bloody love ACME... but the A8 is about the only machine i don't use it for! =-)

[andym00]

lol, what's wrong with ACME ? It's the assembler Wile E. Coyote would use

 

I would use KickAss, but the lack of support for &--#62;16bit addresses and some other features I like of ACME, like passing references to labels stop me using it, although I would love to be able too.. It's possible that the passing labels by reference thing might work now, it's been some time since I checked, but I like the fact that with ACME I just have a 32bit PC, so can build cartridge stuff really simply..

 

And it's the simple addressing for greater than 16 bits I like.. <low >high ^bank..

Plus the fact that I like the way it's written, and makes it very easy to work on for adding new stuff I want to add..

[Rybags]

The big downer about AtAsm, and probably a good deal of other PC-based ones is the error handling.

 

Where most native assemblers will continue when a non trivial error is found, it just quits the process. So if you've got a dozen errors you have to keep recompiling to find each one.

[JamesD]

Is ATASM a variartion of TASM?

I haven't done any Atari assembly yet but what 6502 stuff I've done was in TASM.

Not because it's great or anything. It's mostly because I can also use it for several other CPUs that I've programmed and I don't have to learn the quirks of a bunch of assemblers.

[TMR]

Where most native assemblers will continue when a non trivial error is found, it just quits the process. So if you've got a dozen errors you have to keep recompiling to find each one.

 

Could be worse... i was using Dasm for 2600 code and it doesn't like reporting errors at all and just keeps making passes at the code, apparently hoping it'll change between passes and start making sense!

[invisible kid]

Is ATASM a variartion of TASM?

I haven't done any Atari assembly yet but what 6502 stuff I've done was in TASM.

Not because it's great or anything. It's mostly because I can also use it for several other CPUs that I've programmed and I don't have to learn the quirks of a bunch of assemblers.

My understanding is that it was based on mac/65, a native atari 8 bit assembler.

[Heaven/TQA]

my novice coding skills tend to use any assembler when I am looking at source codes by Andy, Jac!, polish coders et al which use a lot of specific macros, conditional assembling etc

[sanny]

I'm using cc65.

[+CharlieChaplin]

@Heaven:

 

read at german Wikipedia what ACME means: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACME

 

for all others: ACME = A Company that Manufactures/Makes Everything -or- American Company that Manufactures/Makes Everything (most often used in Warner Bros. and Disney cartoon series, e.g. Road Runner);

 

there also exist real companies nowadays which use this name. The meaning of "ACME" was one of the first things I searched in Wikipedia (because as a child in the 70s and 80s I did not know and when Wikipedia was there I finally wanted to know what the abbreviation was for)... -Andreas Koch.

[andym00]

One thing to remember is that the English 'Acme' is from the Greek meaning the peak, zenith, prime etc... Which I didn't know until about one cup of coffee earlier

I'd always assumed it was RoadRunner related, but now after reading more I'm in confusion!! Maybe it is a clever Carmen Sandiego reference ? God, the possiblities are endless!!

Argh!! Confusion!! So much so, I've just had to mail Marco and ask what the true source of the name is

[flashjazzcat]

Assembler (Cross) for Multiple Environments?

[andym00]

lol... Of course.. In my caffeine fuelled state of excitement this morning I'd totally forgotten it says that.. Doh!

[atari8warez]

After the last topic about which environment we use, I got to wondering which was the most popular cross-development system in use.

At the moment, I am using MADS, but the lack of English documentation is starting to frustrate me, so I may switch to ATASM.

So what do you use? And why?

 

ATASM -- Mac/65 compatibility..

Edited April 14, 2012 by atari8warez