(bad translated from french)

We need for a Wiki of the best coding practises (for assembler and other languages).


One of the large barriers to the development of new games on our beloved machine is it quasi absence of sharing libraries of sources between developers.

It is painful enough for a beginner to have to reinvent what was already written by hundreds of coders before him. And yet, I am certain, a number among you, have built such libraries.

Then I ask it to you, why jealously keep the fruit of your work ? Would not be in the interest of the community to find a place where the whole of best practises would be joined together ?

A Wiki maintained by the community could centralize the whole of these documented routines and thus support the emergence of new vocations. MRC would be the ideal place to support such a project.

Heca

This would be a very good idea idd. There are many many private libraries.

this is good place
http://map.tni.nl/

Winners don't use libraries.

Usually I code all my games from scratch, but of course, some copy&paste is allowed. Anyway, I try to squeeze the MSX, therefore I try to make every routine as efficient as possible. This means that it cannot be used in a different game without heavy modifications.

But the idea seems pretty cool. Go ahead with it!

Does new MSX developers exist?

I must agree with pitpan. My opinion is, that libraries are good when there is no need to save memory or CPU power. Sure you can make good looking effects with few library calls, but what is the difference between coding for MSX or PC then?

I think that MSX has enough good library called MSX-BIOS. I must say that I newer include files to my sources if they are not pure data. Also my use of macros is very minimalistic. Although this might sound more than stupid, it also makes my sources very easy to handle. I've been able to change developer environments and continue my projects after years of inactivity with projects. I also think that writing software from top to bottom gives whole better possibilitys for optimizing routines... well... what can I say... I'm freak...

What comes to having article about best coding practises in Wiki (or similar), I think that's a great idea!

Quote:

Does new MSX developers exist? I must agree with pitpan. My opinion is, that libraries are good when there is no need to save memory or CPU power.

Not sure...

depends on the work you need to do.... utily programs does not need to squeeze more power and libraries are good for beginners. Plus a good optimized library can be a point of start for learning and to more optimizations when required.

The way experienced developers work is not the point here. I too work in much the same way. I copy code to a new project and customise it for the specific needs. But for beginners it would be nice to have a functional set of libraries with every day tasks ready for use. Later when they get more experienced, they can start writing they own stuff.
An example. I started a small library for random access to sets of lib files. Something like that may be useful to more than just me.

eek, as long as you first wipe that easter egg code that formats a random drive when running Sphere anywhere in the 6th hour of the 6th day of the 6th month.. eh..

o_O

Yes. And some of the unintentional features as well