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

[magnusfalkirk <dean.phares@gmail.com>]

On Feb 18, 12:42 pm, dog_...@macgui.com (D Finnigan) wrote:
> I think (I've probably been doing too much of that lately) that maybe one of
> the reasons why there aren't loads of "exciting" projects coming out for the
> Apple is that it's too hard to program on the Apple, especially compared to
> programming on today's Mac or PC.
>
> Let's take a look at some reasons why I have this suspicion:
>
> a.) The Apple's screen is small, and there's no mouse.
>
> This naturally makes program editing difficult when today, we're used to all
> sorts of fancy editors on big screens, with macros, easy cursor control and
> all sorts of extras. I don't even use the fanciest line editor for Mac, I
> just use TextEdit which doesn't even number lines, and I still find it
> easier to enter new code and make corrections than on the Apple. And of
> course, it's easy to pull up old files and save new ones. We've got huge,
> fast hard drives.
>
> Note to self: I need to take a look at what editors are out there for the
> IIgs.
>
> b.) Aside from Applesoft, there's no easily-accessible high-level language
>
> Applesoft is easy to use. I've written tons of silly games and trivial
> experiments in Applesoft. But I haven't written anything substantial or
> non-trivial. There's also the speed problem.
>
> Now, of course there is Pascal and K&R C for the Apple (and ANSI C if you've
> got a IIGS and ORCA), which I'm still exploring, but just off the bat I've
> found them to be slow, and the lack of documentation isn't helping (but I
> might not be looking hard enough for docs). There's still the editor
> problem.
>
> c.) It's hard to get data in and out of the Apple.
>
> This is a big problem too, especially if someone is using a cross-compiler
> to avoid problems a and b as listed above. There's still no comprehensive
> solution which works for everyone. So if you program entirely on the Apple,
> you need to figure out how to get it onto a disk or out a serial wire. No
> matter which way the data is going, you need to get a machine with serial
> ports, or an Ethernet card for the Apple, use an emulator to make disk
> images, or get an old Mac which can write ProDOS floppy disks.... To me,
> there must be a better solution out there, but what we've got now isn't the
> worst, either.
>
> Am I right in any of this? Anyone else agree/disagree or have more to say?

Bought a copy of "Programming the Apple A Structured Approach" by JL
Campbell and Lance Zimmerman last week and just got it in the mail
today. I plan on reading through it and following examples to begin
learning BASIC programming on the II. Will let you know my opinion in
a while.

Dean