Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site eneevax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!amdcad!lll-crg!gymble!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu From: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Newsgroups: net.wanted,net.micro.apple Subject: Re: wanted: 6502 assembly book recommendations Message-ID: <500@eneevax.UUCP> Date: Fri, 31-Jan-86 12:34:34 EST Article-I.D.: eneevax.500 Posted: Fri Jan 31 12:34:34 1986 Date-Received: Sat, 1-Feb-86 20:53:20 EST References: <1066@utcs.uucp> <4269@mhuxd.UUCP> Reply-To: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Organization: Imperial Widget Research Center, Kingdom of Maryland Lines: 58 Xref: watmath net.wanted:8056 net.micro.apple:2503 In article <4269@mhuxd.UUCP> res1@mhuxd.UUCP writes: >> Can someone recommend a 6502 Assembly book? > >I have two 6502 assembly language books. Here is a description of >each. > PROGRAMMING THE APPLE II IN ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE > By Rodney Zaks > Published by Sybex, Inc. > > This book is 456 pages plus appendices, and is beautifully done, >is up-to-date (ProDos, etc.), and very thorough. It is not a "learn by >doing" book. The author recommends buying "6502 Applications Book" as >a followup to this book. It is written with the Merlin assembler used >in some examples, but you do not have to be committed to Merlin to get >the full value out of this book. Highly recommended. > > USING 6502 ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE > By Randy Hyde > Datamost > > This book is a pocket-sized paperback. $19.95 seems a lot for >it, but it is often seen discounted at computer shows, flea markets. It >is based on the Lisa assembler and is also well done, with a mix of >theory and practical examples. If you were in a hurry you could >probably get through this one much faster than the first one, although >your education would not be top notch. ( Sort of like a community >college vs. Harvard) > >Rick From my own attempts to learn 6502 many years ago, I find it amusing that a Rodnay Zaks (that's right, Rodnay) book could be highly recommended. The first editions of this book were a complete farce, to say the least. Zak's writing style didn't improve through any of the other books of his that I read, and come to think of it, Sybex in general produced a remarkable volume of garbage. It's been 5 or so years since I learned 6502, and about a year and a half since I stopped following computer books, so this may have changed. Datamost's books, by contrast, are much more readable, although as Rick notes, they tend to skim the whole shebang instead of going into detail. However, my own recommendations lean towards the original Howard Sams' books, 6502 Software Design by Scanlon, and Apple ][ Assembly, by someone whose name I can't remember. The Scanlon book is more specific to the AIM-65 than to anything else, but it teaches technique more than anything else, and I find the cycle-time charts in the back invaluable. The other book when last I looked contained references to the ][+ era monitor, and doesn't cover the features of the //e. And of course, the Quality Software "Beneath Apple somethingorother" series is a must-read for DOS work. enjoy, -dave -- David Hsu Communication & Signal Processing Lab, EE Department University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 hsu@eneevax.umd.edu {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu CF522@UMDD.BITNET "Vern Vern Vern Vern Vern Vern Vern, you've done it now, buddy..." -Ernest P. Worrell