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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Software Issues and Discussion => Topic started by: machinehead on February 08, 2003, 07:55:35 PM

Title: "Porting"
Post by: machinehead on February 08, 2003, 07:55:35 PM

If I wanted to "port" an app to Amiga, just how would I go about "porting" the app??

Is this anything like writing software from scratch?

Title: Re: "Porting"
Post by: Kronos on February 08, 2003, 08:02:34 PM

1. Find out what the SW needs (external libs, special features
of the OS, HW).

2. Find out what compiler was used, and if it is compatible with
anything on the Amiga.

3. Rewrite all parts that you found in 1, or rewrite the SW in
a way that these aren't needed any more.

4. Push the whole mess through the compiler.

5. Start from 1. as the first try didn't produce a working binary  :-o

Title: Re: "Porting"
Post by: machinehead on February 08, 2003, 08:11:47 PM

Oh, now I understand.
IT'S A LOT OF WORK!!
Amazing that anyone would do this for free.....

Title: Re: "Porting"
Post by: Kronos on February 08, 2003, 08:13:50 PM

Well sure it is ....

OT:
You sig, isn't that the wrong way round ?

You are number 6.
I am not a number I am a free man

is what I remember  :-P

Title: Re: "Porting"
Post by: iamaboringperson on February 08, 2003, 08:29:03 PM

Quote

Is this anything like writing software from scratch?

not that ive actually ported a program before, but i would imagine writing software from scratch would be easier
when writing from scratch you basically start of small, debug, and when each small peice is ok, start making new peices of code, you do it incrementaly

when porting a program, you already have a huge chunk of code, which is full of the foreign function calls

i like writing from scratch
but i like to be a bit more creative, others might like porting better

Title: Re: "Porting"
Post by: machinehead on February 08, 2003, 08:42:05 PM

I am not a number, I am machinehead and I will change the quote to match what is true!!!

I will write a program, just as soon as I enroll in, study, pass, a programming program. And then graduate and become a programmer!! ;-)   :hammer:

Title: Re: "Porting"
Post by: Mike_Amiga on February 09, 2003, 12:32:15 AM

Yeah, what they said. I don't no. :-(  :-x  :-o  :-o  8-)  :-(  :-(  :-o  8-)  :-x  8-)  :-P  :-P  :-o  :-?  :-?  :-?  :-?  :-?  :-? :vomit;

Title: Re: "Porting"
Post by: asian1 on February 09, 2003, 05:49:50 AM

Hello
It's also depend on "Portability Tools", such as Bristol, MKS, QT, etc. If your program is written for several platform using the portability tools, and the tool is already ported to AmigaOS 4, then "in theory" it will be easy to port the application to AmigaOS 4.

Using AmigaDE, the same binary program will run on top of Linux, Windows, Windows CE, Symbian, Qnx, and (in the future) Amiga OS 4.2 etc.