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Machine Language for Beginners: Machine Language Programming for Basic Language Programmers
Although anyone wishing to learn 6502 machine language (ML) will likely find this book instructive and worthwhile, the specific example programs are written to work on five popular personal Apple, Atari, VIC, Commodore 64, and the PET/CBMs. If your computer uses the 6502 microprocessor, but is not one of these machines, you will need to find a "memory map" for your particular machine. These maps - widely available in books and magazines, and from user groups - will allow you to follow and practice with the examples of 6502 machine language throughout this book.
- GenresProgramming
350 pages, Spiral-bound
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 3, 2014
A good gentle introduction to assembly language programming for the 6502 processor. This processor was used in many retro computing and gaming platforms, including the Apple II, Commodore VIC-20 and 64, Atari 2600, Atari 800/XL/XE, NES, and more - so if you're interested in developing homebrew for one of these systems, this book is still relevant.
The book is strong in that it tells you which 6502 instructions are really used often, and which ones are used for specialized purposes. It has a good explanation of the processor's addressing modes and how memory is accessed. It tries to avoid being specific to one type of machine architecture, so you can benefit from this book no matter what type of 6502-based machine you are planning to develop for. But if you are developing for Commodore, Apple or Atari systems the book includes a simple type-in assembler and disaassembler (written in BASIC), so you can type in and try out example code.
One thing that really dates the book, however, is that it assumes you are an accomplished BASIC programmer, and tries to explain 6502 programming in terms of BASIC. This is perfectly understandable given the era. In 1982, the author was targeting his audience well. Today, the references to BASIC are a bit of a distraction.
Finally, this is an introductory book, and leaves out a serious discussion of math on the 6502, specifically working with negative values, ones-complement and twos-complement binary. It shouldn't be the only book you read.
The book is strong in that it tells you which 6502 instructions are really used often, and which ones are used for specialized purposes. It has a good explanation of the processor's addressing modes and how memory is accessed. It tries to avoid being specific to one type of machine architecture, so you can benefit from this book no matter what type of 6502-based machine you are planning to develop for. But if you are developing for Commodore, Apple or Atari systems the book includes a simple type-in assembler and disaassembler (written in BASIC), so you can type in and try out example code.
One thing that really dates the book, however, is that it assumes you are an accomplished BASIC programmer, and tries to explain 6502 programming in terms of BASIC. This is perfectly understandable given the era. In 1982, the author was targeting his audience well. Today, the references to BASIC are a bit of a distraction.
Finally, this is an introductory book, and leaves out a serious discussion of math on the 6502, specifically working with negative values, ones-complement and twos-complement binary. It shouldn't be the only book you read.
April 19, 2010
The first book on machine I read. It is for the now very obsolete 6502 microprocessor which was at the heart of the Commodore VIC-20 home computer. The instruction set is also identical to the 6510 that was used in the subsequent Commodore 64.
If anybody still has one of these machines up and running and you hobby in assembly language, this is a good book as an intro.
The availability of languages like C and C++, and very smart compilers, has made it much less necessary to delve into actual machine code, but in 1983 this was about the only way that a teenager could think of writing his own arcade game on the computer he had. Yes, that's the origin of my interest in this book.
If anybody still has one of these machines up and running and you hobby in assembly language, this is a good book as an intro.
The availability of languages like C and C++, and very smart compilers, has made it much less necessary to delve into actual machine code, but in 1983 this was about the only way that a teenager could think of writing his own arcade game on the computer he had. Yes, that's the origin of my interest in this book.
July 31, 2017
This felt like a better start with Atari assembly language, after reading "The Atari Assembler," which didn't give me much to go on. What was nice is it gave a fairly meaty example at the end, of a machine language routine that you could code up to allow you to search string arrays generated by Atari Basic for a substring.
January 3, 2015
When I was a starry-eyed young lad, eager to unlock the mysteries of machine language on my Commodore 64, this was the first book I reached for. Unfortunately, it confused the hell out of me, and I became so disheartened that I abandoned my plans to learn 6502 assembly programming.
At the time I chalked my difficulties up to not being intellectually prepared for the rigors of machine language programming. But thirty years later, having reread the book, I realize that many of the problems may actually rest with the author. All too often Mansfield starts using new terms, concepts, and opcodes before introducing and explaining them to the reader. It's certainly possible to deduce their meanings, sometimes through trial-and-error guesswork, other times through inductive reasoning or reading ahead and then returning. However, none of this makes for a particularly gentle or pleasant introduction to this daunting subject.
February 14, 2016
This was the first ever machine language book that i've set my eyes upon. In my country no publications existed about machine language and i was ~12 years old when a friend of mine bought this book for me from abroad. I spent years with this book with my limited english for years. I dont know if it is the best or the worst book for using with 6502 but its the first and the best for me.
August 26, 2016
For programming the powerful 6502 microprocessor.
Although old, a novice programmer or anyone interested
in how CPUs work at the instruction level could learn from this introductory book,
as the 6502's simple architecture was easy to understand
(compared to Intel x86 protect modes and segmented memory).
Although old, a novice programmer or anyone interested
in how CPUs work at the instruction level could learn from this introductory book,
as the 6502's simple architecture was easy to understand
(compared to Intel x86 protect modes and segmented memory).
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews