Programming on the Amiga

[Puni/Void]

Hi guys,

I was just wondering if any of you have any experience of programming on the Amiga? If yes, what kind of languages have you used, and what kind of stuff have you made?
If you have released something like a utility, a game, a demo, or something else, it would be great if you could post a link or tell us about it.

[Teho]

Closest I ever got to programming something was simple editing or creating startup-sequences. I used to put my favourite programs on one floppy, and create a rough menu with the startup-sequence and the "ECHO" command. I remember I used to look at startup-sequences on other disks and try to figure out how they worked and what the commands within did. Learned alot about AmigaDOS that way, but never got into serious programming.

Kind of regret that now actually.

[Harrison]

I also used to fiddle around with the startup-sequence, creating disks that booted to a boot menu to select different files to load. I did this a lot for animations I had created, so I had auto-booting disks that enabled you to select from the different animations to load.

I also used Arexx a bit, but not that much. Was useful for some tasks.

As for actual programming. I did learn STOS on the Atari ST and created a few basic things with it, and then moved over to AMOS and started to learn a bit of that, but never got that far or created anything that great. More just playing around for fun.

I knew BBC basic and the basic from the Amstrad CPC so tend to find it quite easy to pick up any BASIC languages. But I never really coding anything beyond mucking about on the Amiga. Hisoft basic was another I played around with, and I did learn the Helm language to create some multimedia presentations.

I've actually learnt more programming since the Amiga days, mainly multimedia and web based. I know Lingo, the Macromedia Directory language, as I use that a lot for my work, coding multimedia projects for corporate presentations and kiosk style CDs. And I know Flash Action Script quite well, but not enough to be able to code something like a full game, more just for interactive control of presentations and animation. I also know web languages/scripting code such as html, xhtml, CSS, xml, PHP, patTemplate, MySQL and some DHTML (javascript). And some ASP, and VBA (although I hate VB). I also know some C++ and Java, although not enough to code something of my own, more just to edit existing code.

Other stuff I know such as Telnet and Apache isn't really coding.

[Stephen Coates]

I've never done any programming on the Amiga.

I do edit startup sequences, but only because I need to for a programme to load. I am getting used to how they work.

Only other programming I do is a little bit of HTML and a little bit of BBC BASIC.

[TiredOfLife]

No, never bothered.
Strange really as I used to do a lot with my 64 using Basic.

[Harrison]

I think the difference is that with most 8bit systems you were presented with a commandline prompt at startup so it was instantly possible to quickly start coding in basic, and having to control the system with text based commands meant users were more inclined to learn the system commands and then move on to basic programming.

With the 16-bit era this was suddenly gone and you mostly began each session with a WIMP based OS frontend and had to load third party applications to get the ability to code anything, something that I remember feeling quite alien the first time I ever used a 16-bit machine. I sat puzzled, wondering how to get to a command prompt so I could code some basic. Did anyone else experience that?

The first for me was the Acorn Archimedes in the 80's and I remember having to get the system manual to look up how to input basic and discovering you had to load a bbc basic utility from one of the system disks.

[TiredOfLife]

I think you have hit the nail on the head.
Because it wasn't in my face when I switched on my machine, I was never motivated to do any programming.

[Stephen Coates]

I suppose with the old systems, it is just something you HAVE to do. If you don't at least learn a few simple commands, you will have trouble using the machine, and making your own programmes in BASIC can be part of the fun of using the machine.

Whereas with modern computers, there is already a piece of software for just about everything. I wouldn't have a clue where to start programming windows.

I would like to do some programming on the Amiga sometime, but I would at least like to finish getting through my BBC BASIC book first

[Puni/Void]

If get a good grasp on BBC BASIC Steve, I'm sure you'll find languages such as AMOS and Blitz Basic excellent to get into. Not only will you have the more ordinary commands at your disposal, but you'll have access to a wide range of extra commands as well.

I'm thinking about looking a bit more into Blitz Basic now the coming months. Even if AMOS is great for my needs, Blitz is a bit more updated and it supports AGA without the need of running extensions.

[Harrison]

Blitz Basic is also available on the PC so learning it on the Amiga means you can also code something on the PC later too which is an added bonus.

And learning BBC Basic first is a great idea for anyone. It is a very complete and easy to learn language that forms a good understanding of general programming principles and logic and makes learning any further languages much easier.