macro assembler worth it?

[rednova]

Hi:

I found macro assembler for sale on ebay. Is it worth the buying? I never coded in assembler before, but I would like to learn. Thanks !!!

rednova

[da9000]

You might want to get a book first, and at that, your local library most definitely will have a 68k book. There are also some great assemblers for free. Search on Aminet.

[TheMagicM]

IMO?  NO.  Why limit yourself to 68k based systems?  C/C++ is the way to go on any Amiga OS (MorphOS, AROS, OS4).  

[amigaksi]

>by rednova on 2008/9/29 19:00:38
>
>Hi:
>
>I found macro assembler for sale on ebay. Is it worth the buying? I never coded in assembler before, but I would like to learn. Thanks !!!

Yeah, it's worth it if your going to do something on the Amiga that requires exact timing or optimization.  If you were going to show 30 sprites within 40 microseconds to simulate particle motion or something like that, you wouldn't want to use C.  It would be too difficult figuring out how many cycles a function call takes for example to set the palette within the HBLanking period unless you wrote something like:

      Move   #16-1,D1
      Move.l   #$DFF180,A0   ;hardware color register #0
      Clr.w   D0
SetPalette:   Move   D0,(a0)+
      Add.w   #$111,D0      ;next shade
      Dbra   D1,SetPalette

This following item also comes with simple 68K Assembler/linker and lets you bypass the Amiga OS so you have access to all the hardware resources:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320306183586

[skurk]

Nope. Get one of the assemblers from Aminet, they are just as good (if not better)

I'm a bit stuck in the past, so I'm still using ASM-One

What are you going to code?  Utilities?  Demos?  Games?

[Magic-Merl]

I'm with Skurk.

ASM-One is the one I owuld suggest.

[xeron]

I recommend Asm-Pro, or PhxAss, depending on what kind of environment you wish to code in.

[countzero]

hmm, interesting. Xeron, why would you recommend Asm-Pro over Asm-One ? (I'm not trying to start a flame war here, just to hear experts comments on different assemblers)

I use Devpac and it's great for beginner stuff I can say. It's not free though.

[xeron]

I recommend Asm-Pro for the same reason the others recommended Asm-One i'd imagine, because i've used it for years and like it :-)

I find that if i switch to Asm-One i have to learn a different set of quirks and bugs to work around and i don't feel quite at home

[TheMagicM]

I definitely wouldnt discount c/c++.   Look at the games ported to MorphOS and OS4.  Homeworld, Quake and others.. Ask how much code was written in assembler to handle sprites vs. c/c++ code.  It can be done and you'll lose less hair in the process.

[Phantom]

I believe that if you will program something in a classic Amiga (68k) then the best solution to get 100% hardware optimization and more is definetely Assembly language.

If you are gonna start programming in newer platforms like MorphOS or AmigaOS 4.0 and beyond then C/C++ is the only option I pressume.

[itix]

@TheMagicM

68k assembly still works in MorphOS and OS4... but definitely C is way to go if you wish to use your skills on other platforms in the future.

Anyway I would just get PhxAss from Aminet. It is free and it is good.

[da9000]

@Phantom:

ASM is *always* an option (since *almost all* compilers will eventually convert to binary/byte code, but before that they usually output an intermediate file, with guess what? assembly) - and of course machine code as well :-D