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
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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.

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