Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!think!ames!ucsd!ucsdhub!jack!crash!pnet01!haitex From: haitex@pnet01.cts.com (Wade Bickel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech Subject: Re: superbitmap windows... (Rob Peck's book) Message-ID: <3316@crash.cts.com> Date: 16 Aug 88 07:57:11 GMT Sender: news@crash.cts.com Organization: People-Net [pnet01], El Cajon CA Lines: 52 leibow@video.dec.com (MICHAEL LEIBOW) writes: >waste 20 bucks and buy Rob Peck's book, "Programmers guide to the Amiga." > >Comments on Peck's book: > I read most of the book last night and believe that the book is >a good introduction to Amiga programming. It is probably in execellent way >to go before trying to understand the RKM's. BUT, disreguarding the book's >good layout, There are just as many mistakes in the examples as there is >in the RKM's. I don't have my book next to me at the moment so I can't make >too many specific examples, but I do remember: [examples deleted] >So, if you want to learn how to program the amiga, I do suggest this book >because it is easy to read, but I suggest you be very careful when typing >in any of the examples. Go over the examples with a fine toothed comb before >compiling them. If you have a lint preprocessor, you should use it on the >examples to make sure they won't bomb out. A last thing to be careful about >is the disreguard to pointer and integer types. Peck mixes pointers and >integers in almose every example. This kind of programming will not work >if you use 16 bit integers (the default for Aztec C). > > --Mike Leibow I too have Rob Pecks book(s). I found it to be of relativly little use when dealing with the low-level system. The RKM/Exec/HardwareManule and the structure definitions seem to be the only real clues to the puzzel. However I found the book quite valuable when tackling intuition, and giving a general picture of what the differnt aspects of the system software are for. I really find the weak use of TYPES in his C code irritating, especially since I sometimes translate a routine from C to M2. I have found the Benchmark Definition module listings to be one of my best sources of information. Modula-2's specificity as to where a routine is being imported from is a great aid to figuring out how unknown code works. This is even more important when tracking down structure definitions. I think C programmers would find the Benchmark manule of value even if they never were to program in M2. Thanks, Wade. UUCP: {cbosgd, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!pnet01!haitex ARPA: crash!pnet01!haitex@nosc.mil INET: haitex@pnet01.CTS.COM