<< Programming
>> CATS

What documentation do I need as an Amiga programmer?

The best information available are the RKMs (ROM Kernel Manuals), 3rd edition, by Commodore, published by Addison-Wesley: 
The Amiga ROM Kernel Manual:  Libraries, ISBN 0-201-56774-1
The Amiga ROM Kernel Manual:  Devices, ISBN 0-201-56775-X
The Amiga ROM Kernel Manual:  Includes and Autodocs, ISBN
                                                     0-201-56773-3
The Amiga Hardware Manual, ISBN 0-201-56776-8
The Amiga User Interface Style Guide, ISBN 0-201-57757-7
Especially the RKM: Libraries is a must. The RKM: Includes and Autodocs isn't that much worth: Better get the same stuff on disk instead to have it online. See Where do I get the Amiga includes?.

AmigaDOS isn't included in these books. The Autodocs give much information, but to go deeper you probably need 

The AmigaDOS Manual, 3rd Edition, ISBN 0-553-35403-5
published by Bantam Books.

A better choice for developers is 

The Amiga Guru Book
by Ralph Babel. The book starts with a survey on different aspects of programming the Amiga. (About 250 pages) Useful for beginners are the sections on the Amiga's data types (not to be confused with the 3.x DataTypes used by MultiView, for example), the Includes and the amiga.lib. But even experienced programmers will find useful things here that are missing in the RKMs. But the largest part are about 500 pages on AmigaDOS and, as I think, the most important, because AmigaDOS is the worst officially documented part of the OS. The book is rather concise and hence not as easy to read as the RKMs, but I recommend it as an addition and instead of the AmigaDOS manual. (Not, however, a replacement for the Libraries and Devices, which aren't covered here.) Unfortunately the book has no ISBN and is available in special stores only. But there are some mail order companies which offer it for about 50$ and which accept credit cards: 

                            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 für 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 P&#e9;ri
59186 Anor
France
Voice: +33 27596000
Fax:   +33 27595206
E-Mail: <didierj@swad.someware.com>
See Other FAQ's. 




<< Programming
>> CATS