Amiga Library C Programming Reference Guide??

[DavidF215]

Is there a modern Amiga library C programming guide? I'm somewhat new to Amiga C development, so I would like to have a book, ebook, or website that pertains to Amiga C development. I created a game in Blitz2 on my A1200, and I know C/C++ fairly well. I've done some C++ GUI and OpenGL programming on BeOS, some Crystal Space 3D on Linux, and a limited amount of MS-Windows programming. I am not interested in non-C languages, I know about Blitz2/2000 et al, but I'm wanting C.

I have found the "Amiga C Encyclopedia" on Aminet, but it discusses 2.x programming. Any reference materials that cover something newer than 2.x?  I would like at least a guide to 3.0, but newer would be even better. Are there any major differences in programming 2.x and 3.x Amiga libraries or between 2.x and 4.0? Any newer (better) libraries for 3.x  or 4.0 that replace older Amiga libraries such as intuition.h, graphics.h, sound.h, etc.?

Which Amiga API's would be best to learn for 3.9/4.0+? For 3D API I guess CyberGraphX and Warp3D, maybe? What about MESA? Want something that's quick and easy yet has fast rendering. New libraries for Input devices? Any good reference guides for such libraries? By a good reference guide I mean organized by function groups and small example code.

Also, what API's work with both AmigaOS 3.x/4.0 and MorphOS with little (or preferably no) modifications?

I currently have SAS/C v6.50 installed on my A1200 and a copy of StormC 3.0 in Amithlon. Which would be better for 3.x/4.0 development? Or should I get another compiler, and if so, then which one and why? I don't have a PPC card in the A1200, just an 030 accelerator without an FPU.

I also don't care much about portability to non-Amiga systems, so I'm looking for pure Amiga solutions. AmigaDE solves the portability issue in my opinion, so programming for other systems is a waste of time IMO especially since most systems have their own custom API solutions.

Sorry for all the questions, but don't want to learn more API's than needed while, at the same time, developing for a wide audience. I do not mind leaving legacy behind unless a need suggests otherwise. I'm guessing programming requiring OS3.0 would be widely acceptable and the most reasonable since even emulators can do OS3.9.

BTW, by what I've read so far in the "Amiga C Encyclopedia", the Amiga seems to be an easy computer to program--even in C. No complicated API's or DLL mayheim. This should be promoted in Amiga marketing. Development simplicity  yields quick solutions and reduce time to market in order to beat the competition.

Thanx.

[zudobug]

Have you seen The Amiga C Manual in Amiga U's C Tutorial Section?

I'm about to start coding some stuff in c. I have found this stuff very useful so far.

[Hardboy]

If you allready know c/c++ then you probably need the Rom Kernel Manuals. They can be found on the net somewhere, on the dev. cd which is recommended anyways and maybe at your local library..

http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/

Hope this helps! :-D

[thorrin]

Im glad someone started this thread.  I was wondering the same things.  I messed around with the amiga C manual many years ago when I first learned C (and assembly).  I got away from programming after I left college.

Since then, I have been doing a little bit of everything jobwise.  C/C++, Win32, Java, OpenGL, and even some sound programming (I used the FMOD api for this).  I've been doing all this for work and now I want to try my hand at some of my own apps for fun.  My amiga died a year and a half ago so I haven't been able to get back into amiga programming.  Im looking into getting a new machine once the OS is done.  In the meantime, I would like to read up on some things as well so I can hit the ground running!

I'll take a look at some of the links above.

-Thorrin

[zudobug]

Im glad someone started this thread.

Yeah, me too :-)

I have some related programming questions too:

I'm trying to get started with Aros programming. Will the rom kernel information posted above be of any use to me?

Also, can anyone point me in the direction of some example Aros code (application dev) for example the helloworld.c mentioned in the docs?

It would also be a big help if someone could give me some tips for all the linking and compiling stuff. I'll have to figure this out soon otherwise whats the point? I'm running Aros on top of linux.

I'm not a total c/c++ newbie, but I am an amiga/aros c newbie.

[blubbe]

http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/

Hmm.. Are the RKRMs public domain ? That was
news to me.

blubbe wrote:

http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/

Hmm.. Are the RKRMs public domain ? That was
news to me.

If you are unable to buy them anymore, how else are you supposed to read them?

[blubbe]

MDMA:
-----------------
If you are unable to buy them anymore, how else are you supposed to read them?
-----------------

You can buy them, by buying Amiga Developer CD.
There are both AmigaGuide And HTML versions of them available. Not to mention all other useful
stuff you get too!

Edit:
So, are they PD or not ? I find it strange if they are, as they ar part of the Dev CD which can be bought.

[JoannaK]

mdma wrote:

blubbe wrote:

http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/

Hmm.. Are the RKRMs public domain ? That was
news to me.

If you are unable to buy them anymore, how else are you supposed to read them?

By purchasing second hand copy from places like ebay or at those dev-CD:s that's supposed to have same info.  

Even if book is out of print it does not become public dominan. There are some publishers (Orailey?) who do sometimes release old books but I don't remember Addison wesley ever done so.  

Besides.. Amiga Library book alone is quite partial info.. Devices are equally important for codin. And  even though Hardware manual is not so much needed these days it's essential on understanding some details and background of this all. So it's better to get whole set of books than try to copy just one from the net.

[iamaboringperson]

mdma wrote:

blubbe wrote:

http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/

Hmm.. Are the RKRMs public domain ? That was
news to me.

If you are unable to buy them anymore, how else are you supposed to read them?

dont pirate this! you can get it from the amiga developer CD v2.1

the book form is better however, if you can find it
i have it

[ShInKurO]

Hi, I'm a young programmer and i'm very interested to have a pdf copy of
other RKRM, please please help me! I search for them but i don't find them
(((

Bye Bye

ShInKurO

P.S.: excuse me for my bad english but i'm an italian, and the english
language isn't my native language ;-)

mdma wrote:
http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/

Hope this helps! :-D

[thorrin]

mdma wrote:
http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/
Hope this helps! :-D

I've been looking through this manual a bit.  Its very well written!  Even if I was a 1st year 'C' programmer, I could understand it.  Anyone interested in coding should check it out.  Thanks for the link!  

Where would we find something like this when OS4 is released?  How do you go about getting it?  Is there a 'partially finished' version available now?

-Thorrin

thorrin wrote:

mdma wrote:
http://www.upnaway.com/~hweight/rkrm/
Hope this helps! :-D

I've been looking through this manual a bit.  Its very well written!  Even if I was a 1st year 'C' programmer, I could understand it.  Anyone interested in coding should check it out.  Thanks for the link!  

Where would we find something like this when OS4 is released?  How do you go about getting it?  Is there a 'partially finished' version available now?

-Thorrin

I sure I read something recently, saying that Olaf Barthel was re-writing these books.

found it. Interview with Ben Hermans