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Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4 Archive-name: amiga/books Posting-Frequency: monthly on the 7th Last-modified: 07-February-1995 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: AMIGA RELATED BOOKS compiled by Marc Atkin ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is compiled as a service to the Amiga community. It is an attempt to give the Amiga programmer and user an overview of useful books for his/her favorite computer. It is not complete. If you feel that a book should be added to the list, want to comment on one of the books in the list, want to point out mistakes or add missing information, please send e-mail to: atkin@cs.umass.edu I would like to include people's comments about specific books in this FAQ. That is why some book descriptions are followed by quotes that I picked up from the Usenet Amiga news groups. If you want to have your comment removed or want to say something about a particular book, please contact me. I am working on a HTML/Texinfo version. It will be available soon! (Watch this space for the URL) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes since last posting: - none ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS 1. Understanding the Amiga 1.1 Programmer's 'Must Haves' 1.2 Programmer's Reference 1.3 General Reference 1.4 AmigaDOS 1.5 Hardware 1.6 Important Older Material 2. Assembly Programming 2.1 Learning Assembly (680x0) 2.2 Reference 3. C Programming 3.1 Learning C 3.2 Reference 3.3 Amiga Specific 4. C++ Programming 4.1 Learning C++ 4.2 Reference 5. ARexx Programming 5.1 Learning ARexx 5.2 Reference 6. Applications Programming 6.1 Compilers 6.2 Computer Graphics 7. Using Applications 7.1 The Video Toaster 7.2 Telecommunications Appendix A: How to Order CATS Materials Appendix B: How to Order Motorola Materials ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Understanding the Amiga ======================= 1.1 Programmer's 'Must Haves': -------------------------- o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Libraries (3rd edition; dark gray cover) Addison-Wesley, 1991. ISBN 0-201-56774-1 $38.95 Basic introduction to using the Amiga library functions for intuition, graphics, and exec. Many C examples. Suitable for the beginner, although some background in computer programming (especially C) would be helpful. Covers Kickstart/Workbench through version 2.0. All examples are available in executable and source code form from Fish disk #741 and #742. o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Devices (3rd edition; dark gray cover) Addison-Wesley, 1991. ISBN 201-56775-X $28.95 Basic introduction to programming Amiga devices and resources (basic I/O interface to the actual hardware). Many C examples which are available in executable and source code form from Fish disk #741. Covers Kickstart/Workbench through vesion 2.0. This book also contains the official IFF documentation, which covers the IFF format philosophy itself and many of its incarnations. The included IFF handling code has been superseded several times by publications on Fish disks. As of this writing, the newest version is 39.11 from Fish disk #985. o Commodore-Amiga, Inc.: The AmigaDOS Manual (3rd edition) Bantam, 1991. ISBN 0-553-35403-5 $24.95 (USA), $31.95 (Canada), UKP 21.99 Covers all AmigaDOS through 2.04. It contains a user manual style introduction to the AmigaShell and its commands (which actually is identical to some user manualy shipped by C=), a printout of the Autodocs, and covers the on-disk structure of OFS and FFS, the format of linkable and loadable binaries, packets, and some internal DOS structures. arno@yaps.dinoco.de (Arno Eigenwillig), 27 Jul 1994: "I would not recommend it, though. It has a high redundancy w.r.t. other publications from C=, and its exclusive parts are often incomplete or incorrect." o Commodore Business Machines: V3.1 Amiga Developer Update Disk Set Commodore, 1994. Available through CATS, part number: AMDEV3.1 $30.00 This new 5-disk must-have set includes: Docs - V40.15 Autodocs, and articles/notes about V38/V39/V40 Includes & Libs - V40.15C and assembler include files and linker libs Examples1 - General library examples including Locale, plus PCMCIA Examples2 - IFF modules and examples, Datatypes, AmigaGuide SWToolkit3 - The latest Amiga debugging tools Also included is a new SetPatch for V37 which adds better ExAll emulation, and the current (as of 15-Dec-93) V40 SetPatch for V38 and higher systems. Note that the 40.15 exec.doc autodoc has been updated to have the correct prototype for CheckIO. The 3.1 Amiga Developer Update materials can be used when developing for any Amiga OS version since they include the earlier structures and function autodocs. A new Readme called Using_Amiga_Includes provides some tips on developing for earlier releases. o Ralph Babel: The Amiga Guru Book 1993, Ralph Babel (published by Ralph Babel, no ISBN) DM 79.00 hr@brewhr.swb.de (Heiko Rath), 3 Dec 1993: The Amiga Guru Book is a book about the Amiga and its operating system. It offers fundamental knowledge of the Amiga system and covers such areas as: guidelines for proper multitasking programming, ANSI C, Aztec C and SAS/C, debugging techniques, AmigaDOS, the file systems, the format of load and object modules, process creation, CLI and user shells, handlers and packets (more than complete list of packets), and many other areas. There are many useful bits and pieces about the OS that you'd have a hard time finding anywhere else. Further reviews are available in docs/misc/gurubook-info.lha on Aminet. You can purchase the book through: Almathera Systems Limited Southerton House NBG USA, Inc. Boundary Business Court 482 Holly Avenue 92-94 Church Road St. Paul, MN 55102 Mitcham, Surrey CR4 3TD USA England Voice: +1 (612) 290 9447 Voice: +44 181 687 0040 Fax: +1 (612) 290 9449 Fax: +44 181 687 0490 E-Mail: <almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk> Stefan Ossowskis Schatztruhe Hirsch & Wolf OHG Gesellschaft fuer Software mbH Mittelstrasse 33 Veronikastrasse 33 D-56564 Neuwied D-45131 Essen Germany Germany Voice: +49 (2631) 8399-0 Voice: +49 (201) 788778 Fax: +49 (2631) 8399-31 Fax: +49 (201) 798447 E-Mail: <stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de> Someware , 27 rue Gabriel Peri 59186 Anor France Voice: +33 27596000 Fax: +33 27595206 E-Mail: <didierj@swad.someware.com> o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga User Interface Style Guide Addison-Wesley, 1991. ISBN 0-201-57757-7 $21.95 Describes the philosophy behinds the Amiga graphical user interface. Presents guidelines for interface design ("look and feel") that all Amiga applications (and games!?) should adhere to. Covers Kickstart/Workbench version 2.x. Well suited for the beginner, with emphasis on general interface principles, and less on the actual programming. 1.2 Programmer's Reference: ----------------------- 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: 1989 Amiga Developers Conference Notes Commodore, 1989. Available through 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. Available through 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. Available through 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 Randy Thompson and Rhett Anderson: Mapping the Amiga 1993, Compute Books, 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." 1.3 General Reference ----------------- o Denny Atkin: Denny Atkin's Best Amiga Tips and Secrets Compute Books, 1993. ISBN 0-87455-275-3 US$19.95 "Dale L. Larson" <dale@iam.iam.com>: "From the back of the book: `Whether you're a beginner or expert you'll find hundreds of handy tips for harnessing the power of your Amiga in this extensive guide.' I agree and wholeheartedly recommend this book. (Actually, I probably only found a dozen tips that were new to me, but I am a former Commodore Software Engineer.) It includes info on machines from the A1000 to the A1200 and A4000 and software for all of the above." o David Tiberio: Amiga/Toaster Reference Manual Area52, 1994. (no ISBN) $34.95 dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.ed (David Tiberio), 25 Mar 1994: "[The book] contains over 1000 pages and 80 pictures, all about the Amiga and computers. It covers AmigaDOS, Workbench, Lightwave, AdPro, hardware compatibility, some ARexx, and over 500 FAQ style questions. Also included are hundreds of charts and tables, and Index of things such as Light Refraction (3d users), GURU errors, screenmodes, color RGB values for over 300 colors, Hayes commands, and more. The dictionary included with it contains over 800 words, although the next revision will have over 3000 words in the dictionary. [...] also included is a 40 page list of people, movies, etc that use Amigas for various purposes (distributed with permission from the author). "Originally called the Amiga Online Reference Manual, this 1000 page document mainly covers the Amiga, although about two hundred pages and 50 or so pictures are related to the Video Toaster. [...] revisions are available on a quarterly basis. A demo of the latest release is also available on Aminet (biz/demo/AORM_2.2.lha). "The manual is available at many local dealers, or it may be ordered direct from Area52, 6 Lodge Lane, East Setauket NY 11733. The retail price is $34.95 + $2 for shipping and handling. User group members (Toaster or Amiga) may purchase it for $20. Earlier revisions are available at discounted prices (revision 2.1 is $19.95 and revision 2.0 is $9.95). We also offer a technical support line, [...] Our staff will answer Amiga related questions for our registered customers, direct from the authors of the Amiga/Toaster Reference Manual." 1.4 AmigaDOS: --------- o Commodore-Amiga, Inc.: The AmigaDOS Manual (3rd edition) Bantam, 1991. ISBN 0-553-35403-5 $24.95 (USA), $31.95 (Canada), UKP 21.99 see section 1.1: "Programmer's 'Must haves'" o Sheldon Leemon: AmigaDOS Reference Guide (4th edition) Compute, 1992. ISBN 0-87455-268-0 $22.95 (USA), UKP 20.95 se1pt@dmu.ac.uk (Paul Toyne), 9 Feb 1994: "...it is excellent, it covers all forms of pattern matching, the basics of DOS and then lists each command with complete description. It covers 1.x ,2.x and 3.x." o <author?>: Mastering Amiga DOS, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 Bruce Smith Books, <year?>. ISBN 1-873308-18-3 UKP 21.95 ebalkan@ppbbs.UUCP (Eric Balkan), 11 Feb 1994: "I just bought vol 1 and I wouldn't recommend it -- it's too basic and incorrect in spots. And when he gets to an interesting part, he says it's in vol 2." 1.5 Hardware: --------- o Commodore Business Machines: A500/A2000 Technical Reference Guide Commodore, <year?>. Available through CATS, part number: TECHREF01 $40.00 A 275-page reference manual that describes the technical features of the A500 and A2000, as well as those features that differ from the A1000. Table of contents includes: System Block Diagrams, Amiga Expansion, Designing Hardware for the Amiga Expansion Architecture, Driver Documentation, Software for Amiga Expansion, PC Bridgeboard and schematics. o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga 1000 Schematics and Expansion Specifications Commodore, 1986. Available through CATS, part number: A1000SM $20.00 Spiral-bound manual containing full Amiga 1000 schematics, timing diagrams, PAL equations, and documentation for the auto-configuration process. o <author?>: A1200 Insiders Guide Bruce Smith Books, <year?>. <ISBN?> UKP 14.95 1.6 Important Older Material: ------------------------- o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Libraries and Devices (1st edition; white cover) Addison-Wesley 1986, ISBN 0-201-11078-4 Covers the Amiga System Software up to Version 1.2. Gives a good introduction to programming Amiga graphics and I/O. Many examples, mostly in C (Source Code can be found on Fisk Disk ???). Since the operating system has evolved quite a bit since 1986, this and the following books' value is now mostly nostalgia... o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga Intuition Reference Manual (1st edition; white cover) Addison-Wesley 1986, ISBN 0-201-11076-8 Covers Intuition programming through Workbench 1.2. A wonderfully gentle introduction to programming user interfaces on the Amiga. Contains a lot of information on the philosophy of the Amiga interface. Basic knowledge of C required. Now superseded by the newer "RKM: Libraries" and "User Interface Style Guide". o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Exec (1st edition; white cover) Addison-Wesley 1986, ISBN 0-201-11099-7 Covers Exec programming through Kickstart/Workbench 1.2. The nitty gritty of the Amiga kernel: Basic data structures, tasks, memory allocation and the like. Now superseded by the newer "RKM: Libraries". o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga Hardware Reference Manual (1st edition; white cover) Addison-Wesley 1986, ISBN 0-201-11077-6 The hardware bangers manual for the original chipset (OCS). Explains what all the hardware registers mean and how to get them to work for you. Some assembly examples. Since Commodore now officially dissuades from directly accessing the hardware, and has no plans for publishing an AGA hardware manual, this book is actually still fairly useful for those who have to know how their computer works on the hardware level. o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Includes and Autodocs (2nd edition; blue cover) Addison-Wesley 1989, ISBN 0-201-18177-0 Covers version Kickstart/Workbench Version 1.3. A print-out of all the include files and autodocs (on-line documentation) for all the Amiga library functions (except DOS). Contains summaries and call parameters for all the functions. This information had previously been distributed amongst the Libraries, Exec, and Intuition Rom Kernel Reference Manual in the 1.2 release. o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: Libraries and Devices (2nd edition; blue cover) Addison-Wesley 1989, ISBN 0-201-18187-8 All the introductory text and examples from the Kickstart Version 1.2 ROM Kernel Reference Manuals, revised and updated for Version 1.3. All examples are available in executable and source code form from Fish disk #344. o Commodore Business Machines: Amiga Hardware Reference Manual (2nd edition; blue cover) Addison-Wesley 1989, ISBN 0-201-18157-6 As far as I know, this manual is basically identical to the 1.2 release described above (although it claims to be updated to release 1.3). o Commodore Business Machines: AmigaDOS V2.0 Native Developer Update Commodore, <year?>. Available through CATS, part number: NATDEV20 $20.00 The 2.0 Native Developer Update is a must-have for any Amiga programmer. This four-disk set contains the final 2.0 function Autodocs, final 2.0 C and assembler Amiga include files, linker libs (Amiga.lib, debug.lib, ddebug.lib) FD files, offsets, a great deal of 2.0 example code, and the "Software Toolkit II" disk full of the latest Amiga debugging tools. (This disk set has been replaced by the new V3.1 Amiga Developer Update but is still very useful for its 2.0 example code). 2. Assembly Programming ==================== 2.1 Learning Assembly (680x0) ------------------------- o Gerry Kane, Doug Hawkins, and Lance Leventhal: 68000 Assembly Language Programming <publisher?>, <year?>. <ISBN?> o Paul Overaa: Mastering Amiga Assembler Bruce Smith Books, <year?>. <ISBN?> o Stan Kelly-Bootle and Bob Fowler: 68000, 68010, 68020 Primer The Waite Group, 1987 (2nd printing). ISBN 067-224050-4 bruce.parke@canrem.com (Bruce Parke), 27 Oct 1993: "The best book that I have found on the 68000 [...]. I have found it to be easy to understand, and has helped to make me understand the 68000's instructions without a lot of effort. Everyone I have loaned the book to says the same thing. It explains everything about the instructions." 2.2 Reference --------- o Motorola: MC68030 Users Manual (2nd edition) <publisher?>, <year?> ISBN 0-13-566969-3 Reid_Bishop@a68k.denver.CO.US (Reid Bishop), 31 Mar 93: "I think the best references are Motorola's own users manuals. I have the 68030 manual, and it is excellent. I don't yet have the 68040 manual. Often you can get these manuals direct from Motorola." o Motorola: Programmer's Reference Manual <publisher?>, <year?>. <ISBN?> document number: M68000PM/AD $3.70 dkeller@vnet.ibm.com (Doug Keller), 31 Mar 1993: "If you want to know about the hardware get the 030 or 040 Users Manual from Motorola. If you want to know about assembly language programming get the Programmers Reference Manual. The Programmers Reference Manual covers all the processors in the 68000 series." Charles_P_Peterson@fcircus.sat.tx.us (Charles P Peterson), 8 Jan 95: "This manual covers 68000-68040, 68881, 68882, 68851 (not 68060 yet). There is no programmer's manual for the 68060 yet (as of December 1994) just a `User's' manual. I just got [the Reference Manual], and it's a very nicely bound large and thick softcover book. Obviously a bargain, and a necessity for anyone doing this kind of work." 3. C Programming ============= 3.1 Learning C: ----------- o L.S. Foster: C by Discovery [Cal State Long Beach] Scott/Jones Inc., <year?>. ISBN 0-9624230-2-5 aga@qedbbs.com (Peter Dilley), 28 Jul 93: "Do buy. [...] learn from a Phd, not a freakin graduate of Computer Learning Center, or someone who read books like "Teach yourself... C". It's about 3 1/2" and thick and emphasizes ANSI C." o Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie: The C Programming Language (2nd edition) Prentice-Hall, 1988. ISBN 0-13-110362-8 about $35 The classical introductory C book, written by the people who invented the language! bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "If you don't know C, buy this book NOW. Great C reference, eminently readable. Wonderful wondeful book. If you do know C already, then you probably already OWN this book. If you are learning C and trying to do it with some lame SAMS/Que/MIS Press/M&T/Wiley/McGraw-Hill cheezy trade paperback with a title like "Using Borland C++" or "C++ in 21 days" or "Learning C" or "Using C" or "Learning C by Example" then you are doing yourself a disservice. Get this book instead." o Herbert Schildt: C - The Complete Reference (2nd edition) Osborne McGraw-Hill, <year?>. ISBN 0-07-881538-X $28.95 Matt.Hey@mtask.omahug.org (Matt Hey), 22 May 93: "The best book I have found for [learning C] is not Amiga specific, but it does cover the entire ANSI standard (as well as Unix & some PC stuff)." o Charles Siegel: Teach Yourself... C MIS Press, <year?>. <ISBN?> aga@qedbbs.com (Peter Dilley), 28 Jul 93: "Do not buy. [The book] is not good. Only as a blurb term introduction. The source code contained is extremely poor. Almost child-like. Besides most of them won't compile without massive errors on the Amiga with its ANSI C compilers." o <author?> JAMSA'S 1001 C/C++ Tips <publisher?>, <year?>. <ISBN?> beckwwp@eng.auburn.edu (Wendell P. Beckwith), 24 Feb 1994: "... the book is written for dos machines and comes with a source disk. Approximately 85% of the source code can be used by your Amiga without any modification. [...] Keep in mind that this book is not Amiga specific, but having the ability to load and compile complete examples in seconds is a real boon to the novice and mega-user, both young and old." 3.2 Reference: ---------- o Harbison & Steele: C (a Reference Manual) (3rd edition) Prentice Hall, <year>. <ISBN?> 3.3 Amiga Specific: --------------- o Anders Bjerin: The Amiga C Manual This is an online document on using C on the Amiga. It is available from Aminet (pub/aminet/dev/c/ACM.lha) and on Fish Disks (691-695). From the "readme file": The complete boiled-down C manual for the Amiga which describes how to open and work with Screens, Windows, Graphics, Gadgets, Requesters, Alerts, Menus, IDCMP, Sprites, VSprites, AmigaDOS, Low Level Graphics Routines, Hints and Tips, etc. The manual also explains how to use your C Compiler and gives you important information about how the Amiga works and how your programs should be designed. The manual consists of 15 chapters together with more than 100 fully executable examples with source code. beckwwp@eng.auburn.edu (Wendell P. Beckwith), 24 Feb 1994: "This is a wealth of information, however, take note. [...] some of the examples use things which are no longer thought of as good programming, such as unprototyped functions. This is not really a strike against the ACM, since when those portions of the manual were written, using such oddities was the in-thing." o Dirk Schaun: Amiga C for Beginners Abacus, 1989-90. ISBN 1-55755-045-X aga@qedbbs.com (Peter Dilley), 28 Jul 1993: "Do not buy. [The book] is just plain crap. Poor Code + Poor textual information. It flies over 1/2 the needed information to do any good C and even worse than that. It is ANCIENT, UNUPDATED. Disgusting! We are programming in the 3.x 2.x rom era not 1.2/1.3..." o <author?> Amiga C for Advanced Programmers Abacus, <year?>. ISBN 1-55755-046-8 D.J.Miller@newcastle.ac.uk (Dave Miller), 20 Apr 1993: "[...] it isn't worth the paper it's written on. (well it ain't quite that bad but...)" aga@qedbbs.com (Peter Dilley), 28 Jul 1993: "Do not buy. [The book] is just plain crap. Poor Code + Poor textual information. It flies over 1/2 the needed information to do any good C and even worse than that. It is ANCIENT, UNUPDATED. Disgusting! We are programming in the 3.x 2.x rom era not 1.2/1.3..." 4. C++ Programming =============== 4.1 Learning C++: ------------- o Anderson & Heinze: C++ Programming and Fundamantal Concepts Prentice Hall, 1992. ISBN 0-13-118266-8 o James O. Coplien: Advanced C++; Programming Styles and Idioms Addison-Wesley, 1993. ISBN 0-201-54855-0 bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "Great book on using C++ to solve real-world problems. Invaluable if you are trying to write a graphics package in C++ and need to balance ease of use, readability, "correctness", and efficiency." paulg@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Paul Gittings), 28 Mar 1994: "[...] not a beginner's book [...] This is a very well written book with lots of examples. It covers more advanced concepts than just 'getting the syntax right'. By discusing the various programming idioms available under C++ and their pros and cons, Coplien shows the reader how to design and build well written programs and avoid many of the problems that can result from poor design. To get a feel for the areas covered by this book here is a list of major chapter headings: 'Data Abstraction and Abstract Data Types', 'Concrete Data Types', 'Inheritance', 'Object-Oriented Programming', 'Object-Oriented Design', 'Reuse and Objects', 'Programming with Exemplers in C++', 'Emulating Symbolic Language Styles in C++', 'Dynamic Multiple Inheritance', 'Systemic Issues'. Appendices: 'C in a C++ Environment', 'Shapes Program: C++ Code', 'Reference Return Values from Operators', 'Why Bitwise copy Doesn't Work', 'Symbolic Shapes', 'Block-Structured Programming in C++'." o Bruce Eckel: C++ Inside and Out <publisher?>, <year?>. <ISBN?> 96aander@ultrix.uor.edu (By-Tor Blackwing), 23 Feb 1994: "It's a good one; it tries to teach C++ like a new language, not just an extention of C." o Stanley B. Lippman: C++ Primer (2nd edition) Addison-Wesley, 1991. ISBN 0-201-54848-8 $35-40 Intended as a first book on C++ programming. Some basic familiarity with programming (in any language) is assumed, however. The book is a tutorial through all the features of the C++ language. Many examples. bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "Everything that goes for [Kernighan and Ritchie's] 'The C Programming Language' above applies here also. I like this book a bit more than Stroustrup's 'The C++ Programming Language', but to each his own." paulg@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Paul Gittings), 28 Mar 1994: "IMHO this is the best C++ tutorial book around, nothing else comes even close." o Stephen Prata: C++ Primer Plus The Waite Group, 1991. ISBN 1-878739-02-6 o Herbert Schildt: Teach Yourself C++ Addison-Wesley, <year?>. ISBN 0-07-881760-9 hemmer@hemmer.adsp.sub.org (Franz Hemmer), 23 Sep 93: "If you're a C programmer already, I recommend "Teach Yourself C++" [...]. It requires some familiarity with C, and takes advantage of that very fact. I found it very easy to go through the book. However, if you want information about templates too, you need to find another book, as this isn't covered in this particular book." o Al Stevens: Teach Yourself C++... (3rd Edition) MIS:Press, 1993. ISBN 1-55828-250-5 o Bjarne Stroustrup: The C++ Programming Language (2nd edition) Addison-Wesley, 1991. ISBN 0-201-53992-6 o Tom Swan: Mastering Borland C++ SAMS (?), <year?>. <ISBN?> hacker@bu.edu (Jose Elias), 24 Sep 1993: "I TRULY REALLY recommend from the botton of my heart "Mastering Borland c++" [...]. It's just AWESOME, even when it's meant to be used on IBMs. It has COMPLETE working examples for EVERY function provided by c/c++ at the end of the book, and he explains everything VERY well. The book is over 1,300 pages, and about 1/3 of them are USEFULL examples at the end of the book. Also, there's a course on learning c on the first few chapters, and then c++ is introduced. This is a real-world-use book. I HIGHLY recommend it. BTW, I spend one WHOLE day looking thru every single c++ book here at the bookstore before deciding on buying it. Also, don't be scared by the ibm-nature of the book, almost everything in the book is standard c++, he only touches ibm-specific stuff when talking about video memory, ram, and the bios, other than that it's standard c++." o Mark Terribile: Practical C++ McGraw-Hill, 1994. ISBN 0-07-063738-5 4.2 Reference: ---------- o Margaret A. Ellis, Bjarne Stroustrup: The Annotated C++ Reference Manual (2nd edition) Addison-Wesley, 1992. ISBN 0-201-51459-1 paulg@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Paul Gittings), 28 Mar 1994: "A must have for anybody who is involved in any major C++ work. In the annotations provide some useful insights into the language and its design." 5. ARexx Programming ================= 5.1 Learning ARexx: --------------- o Commodore Business Machines: The Programmers Guide to ARexx Commodore, 1991. Available through CATS, part number: AREXX01, disk: AREXX01D $20.00 Manual (228 pages) and disk designed to allow you easy access to the power of ARexx. Includes information on how to make effective use of ARexx, how to conform to development standards and how to interface applicatations to the ARexx environment. luebke@erls02.siemens.de (Reinhard Luebke), 7 Oct 1993: "This book covers all topics regarding 'how to program for ARexx in C', e.g. creating libraries and function hosts. Worth to say, that all examples in the book can be found on a disk that comes bundled with the book." o Merrill Callaway: The ARexx Cookbook Whitestone, 1992, ISBN 0-9632733-0-8 A very good introduction to ARexx. The book uses examples to introduce the features of this programing language. The examples are often very useful themselves. This book is not a reference manual, but a tutorial. I would say it is very well suited for beginners but also for more advanced programmers. o Zamara, Chris, and Nick Sullivan: Using ARexx on the Amiga Abacus, 1991. ISBN 1-55755-114-6. barrett@cs.umass.edu (Dan Barrett), 24 Mar 1994: "This is a good book with a particularly good function reference section. It also gives examples of ARexx programming with some commercial products. The only bad part of the book is its terrible index." paulg@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Paul Gittings), 28 Mar 1994: "This is the only Abacus book that I have found to be of any use, I almost didn't buy it because it was an Abacus book but I'm very glad I did. This book is very well suited to a beginner ARexx programmer (more so than Callaway's book) and also very useful as a reference for more advanced users. The example code is very trivial and therefore easy to understand, for more complex and useful code examples get Callaway's book." 5.2 Reference: ---------- 6. Applications Programming ======================== 6.1 Compilers --------- o Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman: Compilers, Principles, Tools, and Techniques Addison Wesley, 1986. ISBN 0-201-10194-7 (paperback) GBP 13.75 jewell@savanna.royle.org (Paul Jewell), 9 Mar 1994: "Plenty of information about different methods of compiler construction, and how to put compilers together. Designed as a first course in compiler writing." o Allen I. Holub: Compiler Design in C Prentice Hall International, 1990. ISBN 0-13-155151-5 (paperback) GDP 21.95 jewell@savanna.royle.org (Paul Jewell), 9 Mar 1994: "Excellent (IMHO) book containing detailed source code of a C compiler, with hints and tips on how to optimise the compiler both in terms of operation, and efficiency of code generated. [...] well worth the investment." o Niklaus Wirth, Joerg Gutknecht: Project Oberon. The Design of an Operating System and Compiler. Addison-Wesley, 1992. ISBN 0-201-54428-8 (hardback) fjc@wossname.apana.org.au (Frank Copeland), 12 Mar 1994: "I paid AUS$44.95, a good price for this class of book here. It describes in detail the design and implementation of an entire operating system and includes the complete source code of a compiler for the Oberon language (a descendant of Pascal and Modula-2). The code generated is for a family of processors reasonably similar to the Amiga's MC68K processors. Even if you are not interested in the language, it provides an example of a working compiler, which the Aho, etc. book at least does not." o Patrick D. Terry: Programming Language Translation Addison-Wesley, 1986. ISBN 0-201-18040-5. 433 pages 6.2 Computer Graphics ----------------- [for a more complete list, see the comp.graphics FAQ] o Leendert Ammeraal: Programming Principles in Computer Graphics (2nd edition) <publisher?>, <year?>. <ISBN?> nate@netcom.com (Nathan Dwyer), 10 Oct 1993: "A REALLY cool book. [...] It sort of skims over the math -- moves pretty quickly through the material, but covers a lot of ground. Also includes a lot of C++ code, but the text isn't occluded by it." o J. D. Foley, A. van Dam, S. K. Feiner, and J. F. Hughes: Computer Graphics - Principles and Practice Addison-Wesley, 1990. ISBN 0-201-12110-7 stigove@lise.unit.no (Stig Ove Johnsen), 20 Aug 1993: "It is the book we use in the course 'Computer Graphics I&II' here at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. It goes into depth in describing both 2D raster graphics and 3D modeling (e.g. splines) and raytracing (incl. phong, gourad...). The programming eksamples are done mostly in Pascal. IMHO, it is a very good book. (And lots of nice ray-traced pictures!)" umking21@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Brian D. King), 10 Oct 1993: "The proclaimed bible in computer graphics algorithms and theory [...]. It covers everything from line-drawing, circles and ellipses, pattern- filling, 2d and 3d vectors including transformations, filled polygons, shading, etc. etc. etc." bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "This is IT. THE bible of computer graphics, period. It covers just about every topic you need to know, however because of its scope it is very generalized and so information on any one specific topic may be lacking. Pascal-like pseudo code is strewn liberally throughout the book, which is a big help. Everything you would expect in three-D graphics is covered, including shading, ray tracing, radiosity, texture mapping, etc. Once again, it's very generalized and serves mostly as a good reference to other material and an overview of individual areas. But at over 1000 pages, it's a must have if you do graphics. If you can afford only ONE book on graphics, get this one." o Andrew Glassner (ed.): Graphics Gems Academic Press, 1990. ISBN 0-12-286165-5 James Arvo (ed.): Graphics Gems II Academic Press, 1991. ISBN 0-12-64480-0 David Kirk (ed.): Graphics Gems III Academic Press, 1992. ISBN 0-12-409670-0 (with IBM disk) 0-12-409671-9 (with Mac disk) rhoo1@pinn.nacjack.gen.nz (Robert Hooker), 20 Aug 1993: "These aren't much good to learn from, but once you know your stuff they are an excellent source of ideas." bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "Some people swear by these books. I don't know. They cover a lot of little tricks and tips for a lot of little things, but personally I haven't found much use for them, but I'm looking only at the interactive 3d side of things. Every now and then a friend tells me 'Wow, this one little paragraph in Gems [X] gave me a huge insight into what I needed to do and now my [program] is MUCH faster'. So to be fair, a lot of others have found these books to be invaluable. They cover a bit too much ground for me, so I'm still kind of hesitant on recommending them to others since it's not readily apparent if they will be helpful to you. Your mileage may vary." o F.S. Hill Jr.: Computer Graphics Macmillan, <year?>. <ISBN?> rhoo1@pinn.nacjack.gen.nz (Robert Hooker), 20 Aug 1993: "I can recommend "Computer Graphics" [...]. This was a text for my 3rd year Graphics course at University. All the ideas and examples are given in Pascal (which most everyone can understand) and are easy to convert to your prefered language. The book covers everything from simple 3D shapes thru Gouraud/Phong shading and onto the basics of RayTracing." o Christopher Lampton: Flights of Fantasy The Waite Group, 1993. ISBN 1-878739-18-2 Richard_Johnson@eaglesnest.albedo.com (Richard Johnson), 6 Oct 1993: "It's very complete and it comes with source code written in C++ for the IBM PC. I didn't have much trouble converting it to SAS/C. You do have to transfer files from the IBM disk to an amiga disk, though. The book comes with the disk. The book is really GREAT because it's very thorough and easy to understand. It teaches you from the ground up. One thing though, is that the source code had a number of minor bugs which I had to fix. Also, I optimized some of the code to make it faster. For one thing, I replaced the 4x4 matrices with 3x3 ones. [...] It's so easy to understand, that if you can't understand it, you have no other recourse than to learn more math." bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "This book is a mixed blessing. On the one hand it gets you up and running with the simple concepts that more advanced text books don't bother explaining. On the other, it could REALLY stand to be improved. Lots of simple algorithms are completely ignored, such as shading. However, a lot of PC specific stuff is thrown in. If you would like a more comprehensive review of the book let me know and I'll mail you one." o David F. Rogers and J. Alan Adams: Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics 2nd Ed. McGraw-Hill, 1990. ISBN 0-07-053530-2 bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "Excellent book on curves, patches, and a lot of math. Does not cover rendering at all -- no shading, etc. It does a lot of theory on projections, however -- don't expect much on object databases or efficiency, though. Not a great reference to a 3d renderer, but for modeling in general and math it's wonderful. HOWEVER, it has an insane amount of stuff on curves, splines, Bezier curves, Coons patches, surfaces, etc. So if you want to do surfaces and things with soft edges in general, get this book. One of the few McGraw-Hill books I've liked (the other is 'An Introduction to Algorithms')." o Alan Watt: 3D Computer Graphics 2nd Ed. Addison-Wesley, 1993. <ISBN?> bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "This is also one of those classic texts. The new second edition covers a lot of ground. Watt's style is highly readable, and the same code is in Pascal. A complete rendering system (or two) is supplied in the appendices, along with the data file for the Utah teapot. "If you do 3d graphics, you MUST have this book. [...] Chapters include: Three-dimensional Geometry in Computer Graphics, Representation of Objects, Viewing systems, Reflection and Illumination Models, Rendering Algorithms, Parametric Representation and Practice, Shadows and Textures, Ray Tracing, Volume Rendering, Radiosity, Anti aliasing, Functionally Based Modeling Methods, Three-dimensional Computer Animation, Colour Spaces and Monitor Considerations, Viewing Transformation from a Simple Four-Parameter Viewing System, A Wireframe System, An Implementation of a Renderer, The Utah Teapot. "The book has a fairly decent mix of interactive and photorealistic stuff, and it is an excellent supplement to the 3d graphics section of Foley and Van Dam. Between the two you are pretty well set for 3d graphics." o Alan Watt and Mark Watt: Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques Addison-Wesley, 1993. ISBN 0-201-54412-1 bwh@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook), 06 Dec 1993: "This book is by far one of the best books in the field of 3d graphics. Most of it covers rendering and ray tracing, which means it is not very useful for real-time graphics [...] the stuff it covers is invaluable and very difficult to find elsewhere. We are talking heavy rendering and ray tracing stuff, volume rendering techniques, shading languages, quaternions and Euler angles, radiosity, inverse/forward kinematics, etc. Excellent book, but not very useful if you are looking to write only a game (although the chapters on segmented object animation would be useful for robots/tanks)." o <author?> Amiga 3D Graphic Programming Abacus, <year?>. <ISBN?> Richard_Johnson@eaglesnest.albedo.com (Richard Johnson), 6 Oct 1993: "DO NOT get [this book]. The guy who wrote it should be whipped because this book is impossible to understand and is really just a documentation for the crummy little ray tracing program which takes up half of the pages." 7. Using Applications ================== 7.1 The Video Toaster: ------------------ o David Tiberio: Amiga/Toaster Reference Manual Area52, 1994. (no ISBN) $34.95 see section 1.3: General Reference 7.2 Telecommunications: ------------------- o Dale L. Larson: Connect Your Amiga! A Guide to the Internet, LANs, BBSs and Online Services Intangible Assets Manufacturing, 1994. ISBN 1-885876-02-5 "Dale L. Larson" <dale@iam.iam.com>, 18 Sep 1994: "Connect Your Amiga!" is 256 pages packed with information for networking and for going online. From background information for the novice to networking hints and tips for advanced users, this book has something for every Amiga owner. "Some of the topics covered include: - ABOUT THE INTERNET: What it is, what's so great about it, how it works, how to access it, how to join it, how to use it. - ABOUT TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Selecting and using modems and terminal emulator software; how to find and choose computer bulletin board systems and online services; finding, downloading, decompressing and using public domain and shareware software. - ABOUT NETWORKING HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE: the SANA-II standard, Ethernet, ARCNet, serial and parallel ports, selecting, configuring and using TCP/IP, SLIP, PPP, Envoy, DECNet, connecting to PCs, Macs and Unix, and more. "The author is an expert on the Amiga and on computer networking. Mr. Larson was a Software Engineer in Commodore's Amiga Networking Group. He worked on AS225, is one of the principle authors of both the SANA-II Network Device Driver Specification and the original Amiga Envoy specification documents, and has published several articles about the Amiga and about Amiga networking. "COMPANY INFORMATION: Intangible Assets Manufacturing 828 Ormond Avenue Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604 / USA voice: +1 610 853 4406 fax: +1 610 853 3733" Appendix A: How to Order CATS Materials ======================================= IMPORTANT UPDATE: As of April 28th, 1994, CATS USA no longer exists. According to Peter Kittel (Commodore Germany), it is still possible to order developer material from Hirsch and Wolf (address below), even if you don't live in Europe. Below the the relevant part of the original CATS order form: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- European developers and users may also purchase many CATS technical items through the following German company. Their list and prices may differ slightly from the CATS US list, and AmigaMail subscriptions may only be purchased directly through CATS US. Hirsch & Wolf oHG Attn: Hans-Helmut Hirsch Mittelstr. 33 D-56564 Neuwied Germany Fax: ++49-2631-839931 Tel: ++49-2631-83990 UUCP:hhhirsch@carla.adsp.sub.org (Fax preferred) Appendix B: How to Order Motorola Materials =========================================== In the USA, write to the following address: Motorola Literature Distribution P.O. Box 20912 Phoenix, Arizona 85036 Or call: 1-800-441-2447 You will need the document number, which can be obtained from technical support: 1-800-521-6274. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc Atkin // U of Massachusetts // " Goosnargh. " at Amherst \\ // atkin@cs.umass.edu \X/