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

[Calibrator <calibrator@freenet.de>]

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...
When writing some routines I immediately had the impression
that I came up with better ideas for data structures and program
flow than I was used to back then. This gave me quite some
confidence and increased my interest in staying "retro".

> Anyway, it's just interesting to read through this topic and see the
> talk of development tools and such that I don't fully understand as I
> never really used them (apart from Merlin to do that one action game).
> I'm still using basic right now and I'm wringing it out harder than
> ever before, and still finding new tricks.

I'm still of the opinion that one really should know a tool well
before one tries to get acquainted with the next.
Learning programming languages is great -- but I don't think
it's that advantageous to do it while realizing a bigger project.
So BASIC and assembly for me, too.

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.

bye
Marcus