Re: Wanted: Assembler references - Was "Mini-assembler in Apple ][+"

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Bill Bach wrote:

>Yes, I used the old ][ ref manual -- worked very well for me!  I also wrote a
>6502 Assembly Language Tutorial as a project in high school.  As soon as I get
>my connection to the PC up, I can send it to you.
>
>If you need the source to ALE, why not just dump it from the disassembler to a
>text file, and then add comments to it?  I know it is not pretty, but it
>WOULD
>give you a viable (if not easy) way to make a mod.  ;-)  I've done that with
>some programs I wrote using the mini-assembler, and it works well.

After a possible (very) brief introduction to the basic idea of a language, the
best way to learn to program in it is by _reading_ well-written examples of
the language in use.

A thorough study of the Apple II monitor will teach you more than most
people know about programming the 6502.  In fact, though a commented
listing will make it go faster, creating your own comments for an
uncommented disassembly will deepen your knowledge and
appreciation of structure and function.

Of course, you should have access to a good description of the 6502
architecture and instruction semantics.  Guessing is no substitute
for knowing exactly which status bits are set by an operation and
how many cycles it requires to execute under which circumstances.

This same principle--reading classic "literature" in a programming
language to learn to write in it--is quite universal, applying to natural
languages as well.  It's too bad that this principle is so little applied
today, since it works so well.

-michael

 Email:  mjmahon@aol.com
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