Commodore Cross-Platform Development

This is a great time to develop for the Commodore 64, not only is the original hardware readily available (even if you don't have it in your closet, you can find what you need on-line on eBay inexpensively.)

Besides the hardware there is great opportunity to develop programs for the old Commodores on the modern machines and give yourself a leg-up in speed and quality of code.

In the old days many of us can go on about how we had to hand-code much of our programs first on paper and then typing it into the machine. I myself before I got a monitor for the VIC-20 had to hand assemble my object code on paper calculating out jump and branch addresses, writing a POKE loop to get the program in memory to test, etc.

Also with the limited space of the Commodore space was a major consideration, sometimes using two letter variables or too many strings could lead to whether the program worked right or not. Saving a few bytes here and there was a big deal.

Then there was the long runs of fanfold stock you printed out your code so you could get a look at the code and do commenting and indications that weren't possible with the limited memory (and screen space) inside the computer.

Lastly file management was way different back then whether it was disk or tape (but disk was better) you had limitations on naming files. and with disks keeping code revisions organized always posed a challenge as time wore on.

Today it's good to be a programmer, with the popular open-source movement programming has returned to the home desktop, the tools are better and the hardware that runs them was unimagined back in the day.

Files names and directory structures allow us to keep projects together.

On the commodore, there has been advances along with the rest of the cutting edge systems. Today you can purchase several Commodore Flash based storage drives. There are several Ethernet adapters for the old commodore as well as different methods for transferring data via the Internet.

As there are many die-hard commodore fans which have graduated to bigger machines they have developed tools that allow us to develop commodore software using the luxurious development platforms of the Modern computer.

This include software emulators like, VICE, which can emulate Commodores from the KIM to the unreleased Commodore 65. Many of these emulator also include integrated development and debugging tools you could only dream of being possible on the original 8-bits.

For the more high-end developers there are text editors with their massive file size and features such as search/replace, syntax highlighting, etc. When it comes time for assembly of your 6502 source there are some cross-assemblers that you can use to do the job, these have no limits on file size or label description names or comments.

If you are working on a large project you can also employ Integrated development environments which include editors, assemblers, and file managers. Also not to forget the new revision control systems out there so you can keep track of and distribute your project to other fellow developers over the Internet.

and all of this can be done from even the smallest of net books, no more lugging around computers, monitors, drives, and power strips to have a development system on the go.

What makes it easy in these modern times is the availability of better cross-platform friendly storage and communication devices for the commodore 64 and 128. Some of the more notable ones include:

These are essentially 1541 compatible drives for the Commodore that use flash memory for storage, and with the current generation many store their files in standard DOS format on the drive while still maintaining Commodore accessibility.

The uIEC is great for low cost solution and for added compatibility the 1541 ultimate is excellent to retain the full compatibility of the original 1541 software.

If you don't have the cash for the flash compatible drives, some ingenious folk have developed the X-1541 interface cables and adapters that can be built or purchased quite inexpensively.

The modem days for even the Commodore are coming to a close with the development of a handful of Ethernet solutions to link commodore 8-bits and together and to web and other servers as well. With the introduction of the Commodore Server, I would think 8-bit development in the cloud (via the Internet) is not too far away.

Here are some of the current Ethernet cartridges available for the Commodore

• Comet 64 Internet Modem - for Commodoreserver.com
• FBNet Ethernet Cartridge
• 64NIC+ Ethernet cartridge

The reference shelf has also followed the Commodore on-line, most of the die-hard standard Commodore references are on-line as well many more you may never have known existed.

• DLH's Commodore Archive http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/ - truly an exhaustive compilation of books, magazines and other Commodore material covering most of the Commodore 8-bit line as well as the Amiga.
• Atari Archives http://www.atariarchives.org/ – not entirely Commodore the atari Archives does hold many reosurces pertaining to the 6502 including many books (including my favorite BASIC games books)
• The Complete Commodore Innerspace Anthology http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/manuals/anthology/200/index.html - when it was published it was quite complete, over the years there is more commodores, but the book is one of the authoritative references for memory maps and connector pinouts.
• Transactor http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/magazines/transactor/200/index.html - The Transactor was the programmer publication for the Commodore 8-bits, it was probably the most serious programming magazine published for the Commodore 8-bits. Many of the issues are at the zimmers.net archive.
• Commodore Hacking http://www.ffd2.com/fridge/chacking/ - Taking off where Tranasctor left off is the e-Zine Commodore Hacking, presented in text file format covered many interesting topics such as how to do the video/audio tricks for the modern demoscene programs.
• Commodore Free Magazine - http://www.commodorefree.com/ A more modern e-zine published in a variety of fromats from Commodore text to full-color PDF. While not always programming oriented, it does cover a lot of the recent developments in the Commodore 8-bit community.

• VICE Emulator http://www.viceteam.org/ - Here is one of the most popular and complete Commodore 8-bit emulators, maintained as a free open-source software project, and is able to run on most modern computers.
• Power 64/Power 20 http://www.infinite-loop.at/ - a commercial mac based emulator for the Commodore 64 and 128, which incorporates a lot of Mac's GUI goodness into the controls and preferences making it a breeze to work with.
• Multiple Emulator Super System http://www.mess.org/ - MESS has been notable for producing emulations of Commodore models before vice, but years ago I found it a bit unpolished, then again with time comes fixes and improvements so folk may have better results with it now.
• XA (XA65) http://www.floodgap.com/retrotech/xa/ - XA is a 6502/65816 cross assembler for Linux based computers
• CC65 http://www.cc65.org/ - is a macro cross assembler/ as well as a Commodore/6502 8-bit C complier which works on Linux and Windows based systems.
• Commodore Server http://www.commodoreserver.com/ - This is a community as well as a cross-platform tool, the Commodore Server along with the right hardware give the Commodore 64 unprecedented access to the internet. From files management to on-line tools for the Commodore fan.
• There are many more Open Source & Abandon-ware revival projects - a couple are actually here.

There are now many groups, but I'll post a couple that I can think off off the top of my head…

• comp.sys.cbm newsgroup http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.cbm/topics?lnk=lr - Back in the 90s when I got on-line there was a handful of Commodore sites and only a couple discussion groups, one that has lasted over the decades is comp.sys.cbm, now readily available via google groups.
• Commodore.ca forum http://www.commodore.ca/forum/ - A lively forum dedicated to Commodore 8-bitters. As well as host to the CommVex forum.

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