Re: RFC : Apple II DMA for free.

["mdj" <mdj.mdj@gmail.com>]

On Mar 28, 6:33 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:

> > Wouldn't you like, for example,  to switch video modes through a
> > keystroke ?
> > Transparently ?
> > Without writing a single byte of code ?
> > Without the 6502 nor the software even noticing ?
>
> Apparently some feel the need to do this enough to devise hardware
> to make it possible.  The DMAcontroller described by Sather is an
> example.
>
> I've never found it to be a problem that I couldn't solve another
> way.

I installed a 'programmers switch' in my machine which allows me to
manually fire NMI and IRQ, which I found handy when doing esoteric
things with RAMWorks style memory.

As far as debugging goes, I've always found more traditional
approaches adequate, and have been a long fan of the assertion
approach.

Never much cared for symbolic debuggers - somehow the granular
stepping approach removes the spatial element of code and actually
obscures the problem from view, IMHO

Of course, as this thread indicates there are many differing yet valid
views on the topic.

Matt