Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!rutgers!psuvax1!psuvm!cunyvm!byuvm!byuvax!rustw
From: rustw@yvax.byu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: The HP 48 Programmer's ToolKit (review, long)
Message-ID: <1621rustw@yvax.byu.edu>
Date: 3 Oct 90 04:03:26 GMT
Lines: 31

I would like to comment on the fact of HP not releasing information about the
internal workings of the HP-48.  I recently helped to release a product for a
company.  On purpose we did not document many interesting and helpful features
of the calculator.  Some of these may or may not be similar to HPs reasoning.

1. Time - Just not enough time for extensive documentation.

2. Technical Support - Support for low level features requires an inordinate
amount of support.  Each feature must be 'completely' tested and bug free and
the tech support staff must be intamately involved with each one.  Since most
of these features are low level, they require extra knowledge on the
programmers part (something that most programmers want HP to give them also).

3. Upward Compatability - If a programmer programms using the SYSEVAL commands
then there is no guarantee that these would be compatible with future versions.
I have noticed this in my programming on PCs.  If I want to exploit a feature
of a processor I must programm it in assembly rather than C.  Porting this to
another system becomes very awkward.  I have written many programs in both RPL
and MCODE on the 28s and 48s.  All 28s programs have ported across with ease
with the exception of the MCODE programs. If HP were to change the ROM in some
major way the user should not notice any significant difference.

4. Programming in a high level language with few tricks (no SYSEVALS for
example) allows easy modification and readability for others.

5. With access to a group like this (in the case of my company a good BBS and
tech support staff) any good programmer has access to all the information that
is needed.  Communication between peers is much better for learning something
anyway.

Good Luck,
Wayne Rust