1.2 Programmer's Reference
Description
This article is from the Amiga Books FAQ, by Marc Atkin with numerous contributions by others.
1.2 Programmer's Reference
o John Thomas Berry: Inside the Amiga with C (2nd edition) Waite Group Press , 1988. ISBN 0-672-22625-1 $24.95
"David Sowsy" dsowsy@cs.uml.edu, 23 May 1996: "It has enough theory and explains adequately the Amiga's core messaging system and custom hardware accesses using C programming techniques. The code however is very out of date (1.2). [The target audience is] someone who has decent background in formal data structures, assembly/machine level programming, and CS arithmetic (bin, hex, and decimal conversions), as well as C. C++ programmers can benefit as well because the messaging concepts are fairly high level."
o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Includes and Autodocs (3rd edition; dark gray cover) Addison-Wesley , 1991. ISBN 0-201-56773-3 $38.95
Covers Kickstart/Workbench through version 2.0. The book is basically a print-out of all the include (header) files and autodocs (on line descriptions) of all the Amiga library functions except DOS. The reason this book isn't listed with the "must have's" is that all this information can be obtained in machine readable form by contacting Commodore directly. Additionally, the include files come with most commercial compilers. They are also included on the FreshFish CD-ROM.
o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga Hardware Reference Manual (3rd edition; dark gray cover) Addison-Wesley , 1991. ISBN 0-201-56776-8
If you want to access the hardware directly, this is the book to get. Descriptions of all the Amiga hardware registers. Be warned however that Commodore now officially dissuades "banging the hardware". This is to ensure compatability of today's programs with future releases of the operating system and Amiga hardware. This book covers the Enhanced Chip Set (ECS). There will be no manual for AGA (Advanced Graphic Architecture).
o Commodore Business Machines: V3.1 Amiga Developer Update Disk Set Commodore, 1994. CATS part number: AMDEV3.1 $30.00 (superseded by the Developer CD .)
Contents:
o Docs: V40.15 Autodocs, and articles/notes about V38/V39/V40
o Includes & Libs: V40.15C and assembler include files and linker libs
o Examples1: General library examples including Locale, plus PCMCIA
o Examples2: IFF modules and examples, Datatypes, AmigaGuide
o SWToolkit3: The latest Amiga debugging tools
o Commodore Business Machines: 1989 Amiga Developers Conference Notes Commodore, 1989. CATS part numbers: NOTES89 & NOTES89D $75.00
510-page manual and 2 disks created for 1989 Amiga Developers Conference. Subjects include: Intro to Programming the Amiga, Features Outline for V1.3 ECS Features and the Graphics Library, Janus Dual-Port Memory, Hi-Res Color Graphics Card, Interfacing to ARexx, Advanced Amiga Architechtures, The IFF parse.library, and more.
o Commodore Business Machines: 1988 Amiga Developers Conference Notes Commodore, 1988. CATS part numbers: NOTES88 & NOTES88D $75.00
400+ page manual and 4 disks created for 1988 Amiga Developers Conference. Topics covered include: Unique Amiga Techniques, Tips and Tricks for Programming in C, IFF, Autoboot and Kickstart V1.3, V1.3 Printer Device and Printer Drivers, Amiga Audio and Sound, Overscan, Hi-Resolution Fonts, Programming for 16-Bit Amiga, A500 Expansion Cards, and much more.
o Commodore Business Machines: AmigaMail (The Amiga Technical Newsletter) Commodore, 1987-1993. CATS part numbers and prices below
AmigaMail Volume I, P/N: AMVOL1 $75.00 Back issues from January/February 1987 to July/August '90. (Binder and index tabs are sold separately.) AmigaMail Volume II, P/N: AMAILBI01 $75.00 Back issues from September/October '90 to May/June '93. (Binder and index tabs are sold separately.) AmigaMail Binder, P/N: AMAIL1B01 (Vol. 1), AMAIL2B02 (Vol. II) $10.00 ea. AmigaMail Index Tabs, P/N: AMAILIND $5.00 ea.
o Christian Kuhnert, Stefan Maelger, and Johannes Schemmel: Amiga Intern Abacus, 1992. ISBN 1-55755-148-0
Adam@beachyhd.demon.co.uk, 08 Apr 1996: "It is out of print now, [...] but there may well be copies stored in warehouses around the world if people look hard enough (I managed to pick up a copy for a friend of mine about a year ago, after a bit of searching). The book is basicaly split in to 3 parts. The first part concerns the Amiga libraries, and gives a fairly comprehensive run down (including descriptions, parameters, usage, etc.) of all the functions (KS2.x) of all the main system libraries. The second part is an excellent guide and reference section for programming AREXX. I learned everything I know about AREXX from this book. It follows on in to details of how to write external programs that can interact with AREXX programs, etc. The third part is hardware related. This, nowadays, is less useful, mainly because (i) we are now forbidden to touch the hardware FTMP, and (ii) it's only the ECS hardware, not the AGA stuff. I still think this is one of the most useful books I've bought."
o Sheldon Leemon: Inside Amiga Graphics Compute! Publications, 1986. ISBN 0-87455-040-8
Charles Patterson (midian@azstarnet.com), 4 Oct 1997: "Graphics programming in C and BASIC. In depth and detailed information on using graphics."
o Stephen Levy: Amiga Programmer's Guide Compute! Publications, 1986. ISBN 0-87455-028-9
Charles Patterson (midian@azstarnet.com), 4 Oct 1997: "General overview of the Amiga and programming it in Basic, C, and Assembler. Handy for the beginner."
o Eugene P. Mortimore: Amiga Programmer's Handbook Sybex, 1985. ISBN 0-89588-343-0
Charles Patterson (midian@azstarnet.com), 4 Oct 1997: "Detailed information on programming the Amiga. A wealth of information. Very handy reference but quite dated."
o Robert A. Peck: Programmer's Guide to the Amiga Sybex, 1987. ISBN 0-89588-310-4
Leslie Ayling (layling@intercoast.com.au), 7 Feb 2001: "While it is only current up to KS1.2, it has many example programs in C that cover the following areas: AmigaDOS, Exec, Gfx, Intuition, Devices, Sound, Animation and more. Step by Step examples in every chapter, and the book is also keen to promote good programming practices. Also a good chapter on multi-tasking and inter-process communication. Slightly dated but still worthwhile."
o Randy Thompson and Rhett Anderson: Mapping the Amiga Compute Books, 1993. ISBN 0-87455-267-2 $27.95
jagapen@sarah.wisc.edu (Jonathan Gapen): "Alphabetical listing of all OS functions with descriptions, host library, offsets, syntax, prototype in C and ML, arguments, results and the OS version in which it first appeared. Alphabetical listing of all OS structures with size, include file and listing of the structure with C and ML types. Also includes a section listing all hardware registers with detailed descriptions. Covers OS versions through V39 and hardware through ECS."
o [author?]: The 'Kickstart' Guide to the AMIGA Ariadne Software Ltd., 1987. ISBN 0-9512921-0-2
ajo1 (ajo1@ukc.ac.uk), 10-Nov-1995: "It details quite a few low level concepts on how to write stuff for the Amiga; it has some assumptions that you have come from programming a C64, but it still useable otherwise. It's quite old and only goes up to 1.2, and it talks about 1.1, but the basic concepts are there, which seem to be lacking from more modern stuff (where it is assumed you know it already). Overall, not a book I would buy new, but as it only cost me 2 UKP, I'm not exactly going to argue about it."
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