[Coco] Noob 6809 ASM programmer looking for tips

[ricspam at mpc.com.br]

Hello, CoCo World! :)

First, a brief introduction: I'm Ricardo, a software engineer from Brazil. In the
mid '80s I got my first computer, a CP-400 (a Brazilian clone of the Coco), and
since 1996 I've kept a few web pages about it on
http://sites.mpc.com.br/ric/cp400/ecocmain.htm

I did a lot of programming on the Coco, but only with Basic. I used assembly on
other platforms, though (mostly x86, but also Dragonball/Palm, SH4/Dreamcast and
others).

Now I'd like to develop a couple of games for the Coco, and I want (and probably
need) do it in assembly. So, any tips from experts such as you guys are really
welcomed!

BOOKS
=====

I've already found some books and references on the subject ("TRS-80 Color Computer
Assembly Language Programming", "Assembly Language Programming for the TRS-80 Color
Computer", "MC6809 8-bit Microprocessor Programming Manual" and a few others), which
I've started studying, but if you know other / better resources, please let me know.

TOOLCHAIN
=========

My idea of an "ideal" development system is:
 - using a syntax highlighting editor to code
 - compiling the source into a binary
 - building a cartridge or disk image
 - testing and debugging on an emulator

I'm planning to use Scite as the editor, but I'll need to change the .ASM opcodes,
etc. to have proper highlighting.

For compilers I've found asm6809, lwasm/lwtools and a09. I tried to compile Bob
Withers' adventure games with them, but it seems each compiler uses a different
syntax, so all of them produced different errors... I'm still working on this,
though.

The ToolShed is a very nice set of tools, and I could use "decb" to create disk
images and copy files to/from it.

I tested both Mame and XRoar, which seem to be great emulators. From what I've read
(but didn't test yet), I can use XRorar with GDB / DDD, so it seems to have an edge
over Mame.

I'd love to read you comments on this! What are the modern tools that you are using
to code in assembly for the Coco? I can use both Windows and Linux, so tools for
these platforms are preferred.

Thank you!


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