Re: Some questions about Apple IIc and Assembly Programming

[tomatos <detachment2702@gmail.com>]

On Mar 20, 11:40 pm, winston19842005 <bjjlya...@NOSPAMbellsouth.net>
wrote:
> On 3/20/09 11:18 PM, in article
> 271ec6f0-09cc-4329-bcdb-82ff183b6...@o11g2000yql.googlegroups.com, "tomatos"
>
> <detachment2...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hey guys, I'm a freshmen computer science student who's interested in
> > learning assembly on the apple iic and I was hoping that someone could
> > help me get started.
>
> Ok, who's the troll?
>
> (just kidding!)
>
> Really, I haven't met a computer science student since I started back this
> semester who could even program a bubble-sort in Java, because they are used
> to calling pre-programmed methods! (I started in CS back in 1984, and am
> still trying to finish a bachelor's, now in CIS, so I'm not that smart, I
> guess...)
>
> Good for you!
>
> Wish I could help you out, the Apple is not my forte. Nevertheless, I have a
> great deal of respect for a CS student who wants to touch a machine and
> learn what it is like on the "bare metal"...

Haha, thanks for the comment. Since I wasn't around in 1984 I can't
offer a comparison, but there definitely seems to be a general lack of
curiosity among many of my classmates. Personally I love CS, but I'm
not sure why these people are in this major if they have such an
apathetic attitude towards learning. Good luck with your degree!

On Mar 21, 1:37 am, Jonno Downes <jonno...@gmail.com> wrote:
> BTW - if you really do want to do it the hard way, I believe you can
> get to the mini assembler by
> 1) loading integer basic (from a DOS 3.3. master disk)
> 2) call -151  (to get into monitor)
> 3) F666G (to jmp to mini assembler)
>
> Instructions for using the mini assembler are on the apple support
> website (!?!!)http://support.apple.com/kb/TA40023
>
> Regards
>
> jonno

I wish I could do this, but it appears that the original ROM for the
apple iic does not have the mini-assembler :(

On Mar 21, 1:31 am, Jonno Downes <jonno...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 21, 2:18 pm, tomatos <detachment2...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hey guys, I'm a freshmen computer science student who's interested in
> > learning assembly on the apple iic and I was hoping that someone could
> > help me get started. I've got an apple iic with green phosphor monitor
> > in great condition, a copy of Apple II Assembly Language by Marvin L.
> > De Jong., as well as DOS 3.3 and ProDOS 8 diskettes (thanks
> > Syndicomm!)
>
> Assuming your objective is to be able to code programs that *run on*
> an Apple 2, rather than wanting to restrict yourself to *programming
> on*, I'd strongly recommend use the ca65 cross assembler (which will
> run on windows, mac, *nix, whatever) so you can use all the modern
> editing facilities like copy & paste, search & replace, etc. ca65 is
> part of the cc65 package -http://www.cc65.org/
>
> I'd suggest you look at the adtpro project files -http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/
> which as well as being the source for a tool you will find absolutely
> essential if you are doing cross-development, will also show you what
> a well structured ca65 project looks like (with Make files that not
> only compile the source code and link to an executable binary, but
> also go on to build a bootable disk image you can load into an
> emulator or transfer to your real apple (via ADTPro) to execute).
>
> p.s. - welcome - it's a fun journey!
>
> Regards,
>
> Jonno

Aha! That's perfect, and it will let me use all of the software I
need. Unfortunately because my computer does not have a RS-232 port
I'll have to get a USB -> RS-232  adaptor in addition to the RS-232 ->
DE-9 cable. That means it'll be a few more weeks before I can really
dive into this. Oh well, it's a small price to pay.