[Coco] Machine Code

[eric at canales.me]

I've just begun learning. I'm using lwtools, Linux, scite, and milliluk’s custom mame for coco development. This setup appears to work as well as edtasm but with a completely modern environment. I'm going through the book “Color Computer Assembly Programming” by William Barden Jr. and he goes through ASM and machine code in tandem. There were a few roadblocks in getting the toolset setup but the community helped me out where needed. As a modern programmer going low level and retro, this is a very comfortable path.

Sent from my Windows 10 phone

From: Dave Philipsen
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2017 1:56 PM
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [Coco] Machine Code

Actually, understanding 'machine code' can be very beneficial.  If 
you're going to write code in assembler, why not understand exactly 
what's going on under the hood?  I can't tell you how many times I've 
just done a quick dump of memory and seen certain combinations like "7E 
80 00" or "1A 50" or "20 8D" or "12" or "39" and recognized what was 
happening even without using a disassembler.  It's true that virtually 
no one writes in "native machine code" but I have, on many occasions, 
patched code for purposes of experimentation/testing with machine code.  
And, in some very rare cases where I was working from a monitor that did 
not include an assembler or disassembler on a platform (usually an 
embedded controller) where it wasn't necessarily easy import and test 
new code, I have actually written a bit of "machine code" or 
cross-assembled on another machine and manually entered the code 
byte-by-byte on the target machine.

And I do agree that starting out with EDTASM+ and a good tutorial is the 
best...

Dave


On 5/31/2017 12:36 PM, tim franklinlabs.com wrote:
>     I'm curious what you consider "Machine Code"? Assembly and Machine Code
>     are, for all practical purposes, the same thing. Machine Code by
>     definition is the actual numbers put into RAM/ROM locations. I don't
>     know anyone who actually writes in native machine code. They always use
>     assemblers to create the machine code.
>     As mentioned by another poster, it's best to start with EDTASM and a
>     good Assemblers "How To" book.
>
>       On May 31, 2017 at 11:53 AM John Mark Mobley
>       <johnmarkmelanie at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>       How do you practice simple machine code on a CoCo. This is just to
>       teach
>       the basics of machine code as an introduction to assembly.
>
>       What steps should one follow to practise machine code.
>
>       -John Mark Mobley
>
>       --
>       Coco mailing list
>       Coco at maltedmedia.com
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>
> References
>
>     1. https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>


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