Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!umich!samsung!think!linus!eachus From: eachus@linus.mitre.org (Robert I. Eachus) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Difficulty in programming Message-ID: Date: 6 Jun 90 22:47:53 GMT References: <2487@zipeecs.umich.edu> <1990Jun2.063414.10292@agate.berkeley.edu> <20990@estelle.udel.EDU> <1990Jun4.191035.12599@watdragon.waterloo.edu> <1990Jun5.084107.162@agate.berkeley.edu> <136762@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> Sender: usenet@linus.mitre.org Organization: The Mitre Corporation, Bedford, MA Lines: 31 In-reply-to: cmcmanis@stpeter.Eng.Sun.COM's message of 6 Jun 90 19:14:08 GMT In article <136762@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> cmcmanis@stpeter.Eng.Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes: It is all relative to what you have done before. Is there really a lot of difference be learning that poking addresses X, Y, and Z will put a C64 into Hi-res color mode, versus calling function OpenScreen() with parameters X, Y, and Z will get you an Amiga Screen in Hi-res color mode? The major difference, I think is learning how NOT to think sequentially. I have run into a number of former application programmers who never could learn this, and therefore had to be assigned away from systems programming and even compiler writing. The test I always use now is whether someone can write re-entrant code. If they can do that, the Amiga is a lot easier to program for than Suntools, or X-windows, or even a PC. If they can't, anything they do for an interactive environment will be either buggy or frustrating to use. Unfortunately, a lot of games, even some I paid money for, seem to fall in this category. (Note to game authors: Put a bug in your code using the debugger, or use the one you are currently debugging, so that the game will die. Now select Quit from the menu. Nothing happens? Don't release it. If it cleans up all of its memory and exits, it passes my FIRST test for games.) -- Robert I. Eachus Amiga 3000 - The hardware makes it great, the software makes it awesome, and the price will make it ubiquitous.