Programming 2021 style -- new revision of all sections coming

[+Andrew Davie]

Noting the out-of-dateness of many of the links, and in particular the woeful typos/spelling in the originals and the poor formatting of the source code introduced by forum upgrades, and missing/dead links here and there, I've decided to try and revamp the whole "Programming for Newbies" series.  I'm going through each one of the sessions and making sure everything is as clear and up-to-date as possible.

 

So, if you were thinking about tackling '2600 programming in assembler language -- you might like to tag along as I update them.  Since I'm also working on a technincal wiki for the '2600 itself, it seems like a good idea to host the updated tutorial sessions there. You're welcome to keep using this forum, though, to ask for questions and advice on both the tutorials and programming in general.

 

The first session is complete and available from the session index page at http://www.taswegian.com/WoodgrainWizard/tiki-index.php?page=Programming-for-Newbies

 

[+Andrew Davie]

Revamped Session 2: Television Display Basics is now available

http://www.taswegian.com/WoodgrainWizard/tiki-index.php?page=Session-2:-Television-Display-Basics

[+Andrew Davie]

Revamped Session 3: The TIA and the 6507 is now available

http://www.taswegian.com/WoodgrainWizard/tiki-index.php?page=Session-3:-The-TIA-and-the-6507

 

[+Andrew Davie]

Revamped Session 4: The TIA is now available

http://www.taswegian.com/WoodgrainWizard/tiki-index.php?page=Session-4:-The-TIA

[+Andrew Davie]

Revamped Session 5: Memory Architecture is now available

http://www.taswegian.com/WoodgrainWizard/tiki-index.php?page=Session-5:-Memory-Architecture

[+Andrew Davie]

Revamped the following sessions...

 

Session 6: TV Timing Diagram

Session 7: The TV and our Kernel

Session 8: My First Kernel

 

That last one is the start of example kernels, and I've taken the opportunity to rewrite/fix things. I probably spawned a whole generation of programmers doing things the wrong way... but never to late to correct, I guess.  In particular, I've always regretted the way I started with 192 WSYNCs instead of doing it in a loop from the start.  That was a big mistake, now corrected.  I'm starting with inefficient code, easy to read, but at least it's looping and relatively efficient.

 

A workable (and tested!) ZIP file containing the source code, a runnable binary, and the required vcs.h/macro.h files are included. I do know these say "don't redistribute" but I guess I'll just rewrite that notice in them

 

If you're thinking of learning '2600 assembly, these newly checked/rewritten kernels are a great place to start.

 

[JohnGri]

Hi,

I looked at the links for this updated version. It appears it is not complete. Do you plan on finishing this?

[+Andrew Davie]

3 hours ago, JohnGri said:

Hi,

I looked at the links for this updated version. It appears it is not complete. Do you plan on finishing this?

Not for a while, alas. I have things to deal with at the moment.