[Color Computer] [coco] Learning MW C (REALLY!)

George's Coco Address yahoo at dvdplayersonly.com
Tue Aug 15 02:17:38 EDT 2006


The C Programming Language, by Kernighan and Ritchie

This book is readily available and from what I've read, it's a good source 
on the K&R C.
I also found what seems to be a good suppliment for this book available 
beginning here:
http://c-faq.com/~scs/cclass/krnotes/index.html

This, I think, would be a great start once I learn how to use the OS-9 
software that is needed to compile whatever it is I might try.

I would expect that whatever I can learn in the book and the online 
suppliment would work with the OS-9 compiler but, correct me if I am wrong.

The book that came with the C-Compiler for OS-9 claims an almost perfect 
implementation of the K&R C. There are five instances mentioned in this book 
whick are exceptions. The OS9 book also mentions the K&R book as a 
reference. pp 1-2

Tomorrow, I'm going to begin reading this OS-9 book and try to understand 
the process of compiling the simple "Hello World" thing before I actually 
begin trying to compile the simple "Hello World" thing. That's where I went 
wrong several years ago. I didn't start with the basics.

Once I get that to work, I think the snowball will begin to roll.

 In order for you to follow what I'm doing, why I'm doing it this way, then 
the following may help you understand. This will allow those of you who can 
help me to do so without much distraction. I'll then need some real help 
learning the "Tricks Of The Trade".

 Here goes the onslaught of excessive verbiage.......

 I'm not a hardware/software engineer. I don't make my living with this 
stuff. It's only a hobby and not a major interest(compared to other things I 
do). I love connecting things to a coco. I love building steam engines even 
more. I NEED the coco to help me make complicated and precision parts for 
these engines and I am not going to spend more money on the manufacturing 
needs than the result is worth.

 I collect old stuff. I use that old stuff. I have a 1961 Cub Cadet garden 
tractor I use almost daily for various things. My pickup will be thirty 
years old next year, I've owned it for 21 years..
 I have a muzzle loading "Pensylvania" pistol that I use several times a 
year. My favorite camera is 75 years old. I use it often. That camera 
enables me to make large photographs EXTREMELY superior to my Pentax 35mm 
TLR, my Fujifilm 5 Mpixel digital or most anything any of you might own.

 Sometimes simple is easy... uh... well maybe ALWAYS is more accurate. The 
coco is simple.
 OS9 is much better(IMO) than RSDOS. I haven't tried anything else, because 
I simply love OS9 just the way it is(with all the patches, of course).

 This is why I want to do it the old, already available and easy to do way. 
It will be done on a coco, using original coco software(except for what I 
can write) and parts that were readily available then. I already have all 
that and I don't need to buy anything to make this work.
 Heck! It already works(mostly). I just want to make it work faster, the 
natural way. Not with Nitros9 or a faster clock or CPLDs or stuff like the 
modern, super chips.

 If I were to obtain more modern things to do this, then I would have to 
learn that first, before I could learn how to use it for my application!!
 More time and study.

 I know my coco, the hardware and how to connect things to it. It took me a 
really long time to understand B09 well enough to do most everything I want. 
Now it's time to move up to C on a coco.
 Those of you who are a developer of  this modern technology, I salute you. 
You make my life easier. I use the modern technology. With my coco, I will 
do it the old way.

George




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