Re: A86: Tutorials

To: assembly-86@lists.ticalc.org
Subject: Re: A86: Tutorials
From: ZeromusMog@aol.com
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 01:06:27 EST
Delivered-To: assembly-86-outgoing@towerguard.unix.edu.sollentuna.se
Delivered-To: assembly-86@lists.ticalc.org
Reply-To: assembly-86@lists.ticalc.org

In a message dated 2/3/99 5:11:29 PM Pacific Standard Time, CZ8486@aol.com
writes:

> I'm a decent BASIC programmer, though I've only done text-based games, and
>  want to learn Asm, but all the tutorials are really confusing.  Does anyone
>  know of a tutorial that shows BASIC commands and then what they are in
BASIC
>  or vice versa.  Also I've looked at the source code of a lot of games and I
>  really don't get the whole push/pop and RAM page stuff.  And what's with
all
>  the $'s?

The $'s are symbolic of a progammer's desire to make money. Sometimes, we just
sprinkle them in there just for fun.
Nah, just kidding! :) They denote a hexadecimal number. If you don't know what
that is, find a tutorial that explains it. If you don't understand hex and
binary, you can't program ASM. But don't worry- keep an open mind and you'll
pick it up easily.

As for learning the language itself- give it some time. Transition from BASIC
to ASM is really hard, as you can make simple programs with little or no
knowledge of the language, while in ASM you need to understand a lot of it
before even the simplest tasks can be completed. I learned it "by osmosis". I
read tutorials, read posts on the assembly list, and tried to grasp one
concept at a time. You have to think a lot differently, as the concepts
involved with moving around bits (which is all ASM really is) is way different
than anything else you might be doing. If you keep around it, and try to make
some programs (be prepared to pull some batteries) you will catch on
eventually. It's great fun, and you'll enjoy it.