A86: Re: A86

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A86: Re: A86


LOL.  Isn't that what everyone wants about anything?  :)

The quickest way to get good is to write lots of code and to read lots of
code.  If you figure out problems on your own instead of being lazy and
asking for help with every little bug, you will get better much faster, too.
And you'll make less mistakes in the future.  Writing massive amounts of
code is essential to becoming a skilled programmer.  It takes a certain
while for you to get used to assembly so that it comes natural.  Some people
are naturally skilled, and for others it takes more work.  I doubt I'll ever
be ask skilled as Shepcar or Clem and be able to write entire games like
Bomberbloke in a day, but if I put my mind to it and put a little time in, I
can write some pretty cool stuff.

The Assembly Studio 86 help file is basically what taught me asm.  Sure,
it's just an instruction reference (and rom calls and a whole lot more!) and
not tutorials, but no one can teach you asm.  Once you know the basics like
how to test stuff, do conditional jumps and indirection, you can only teach
yourself by writing lots of code.  If you spend a week doing nothing more
than writing asm, you will be amazed at the end of the week at how much you
have learned.  But if you don't, you'll end up in the very same place,
wondering why you can't understand asm.

The other thing that is important is reading source code.  You will learn so
much by reading other people's code.  There is almost nothing new that you
will do in your first few asm games or programs.  If you can think of it and
want to write it, then more than likely someone else already has.  Think of
a program or game that does, hunt down the source code and study it.  Not
that all code is good.  Quite the contrary.  But you will learn how people
do things, and with time you'll be able to recognize the difference between
good code and bad code.  Remember that just because a program is cool does
not mean the code is good, or good to learn from.

Reading Jimmy Mardell's code is an excellent way to learn.  ZTetris and
Sqrxz for example, are well commented.  He is an awsome programmer, and
you'll learn many tricks from his code.  But it's not so optimized like
Shepcar's code that you can't figure out what the heck is going on.  Matthew
Shepcar's code is also an excellent place to learn from.  Same with Clem's.
I've written code that I thought was pretty well optimized, and had Clem cut
it in half :)  You will learn many advanced tricks from Shepcar that you
won't see anywhere else.  Peaworm is a game to just look at and wonder how
he did that.

Ok, enough ramblings for now :)

> I know almost nothing about assembly, and the mails i get from the list
are
> blah to me. I want to learn assembly, but not want to read and read and
read
> about it, i want to learn it quickly, and not be confused. Please help, so
i
> will be able to program in assembly, and also understand it and the things
i
> see in the assembly 86 list. I appreciate it,
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