Re: Is it too hard to program for the Apple?

[BLuRry <brendan.robert@gmail.com>]

On Feb 20, 10:16 pm, Calibrator <calibra...@freenet.de> wrote:
> On 21 Feb., 04:07, bloomer_au <bloo...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
> > What amazes me is that I always thought I was a basic whiz,
> > and yet in this latest revisit to programming the computer after
> > a massive hiatus, I'm better at it than I ever was before. I'm
> > using techniques to cram this game into PRODOS I would
> > never have previously come up with.
>
> I've had a similar experience: After rediscovering the 6502 (via
> the Apple II in 2005) I was surprised how much I still knew --
> I thought I had forgotten everything after dropping out for 15 years
> where I thought that only the latest stuff is the best...

I find myself in much the same boat.  I though I would have hit my
peak with 8-bit when I was 15.  But coming back to it after getting a
comp sci degree and much more real-world experience with algorithms,
OS architecture, and data structures, I've been very surprised at how
much potential is there that has been largely missed.  The only thing
that limits the potential of what is possible is 1) Small audience
(which means any hardware that makes it easy to do new things is
relatively pricey) and 2) Limited free time to work on these things.

> However, I'm strongly considering cross-development on the PC
> now to have a more integrated and comfortable environment for
> the assembly part and the data generation.

I've been able to adjust the workflow I use for professional
programming and apply the same toolset to Retro programming, which is
largely why I chose Java-related projects.  You can pretty easily wrap
CC65 or Acme (my preference for no other reason other than I saw Acme
first) assembly from an Ant script.  Of course if I were a C/C++
developer I could say the same for Make or the like.  Well, to each,
his/her own I guess.  :-D

-Brendan