Best resource for serious Commodore 64 programming.

Question

What is the best resource for serious Commodore 64 programming?

Assume that serious programming on the Commodore 64 is not done in BASIC V2 that ships with the Commodore 64.

I feel like most of the knowledge is tied up in old books and not available on the internet.

All that I have found online are either very beginner style introductions to Commodore 64 programming (Hello world), or arcane demo-coder hacks to take advantage of strange parts of the hardware. I haven't found a well-explained list of opcodes, memory locations for system calls, and general mid-level examples and tips.

Main portals I have found:
lemon64
C-64 Scene Database
c64web Actually hosted on a Commodore 64!

Tools I have found:
cc65 A C compiler that can target Commodore 64.

Answer 1

See if this helps..

• http://www.classic-games.com/commodore64/64doc.html
• http://project64.c64.org/hw/c64.html
• http://www.amazon.com/Commodore-64-Programmers-Reference-Guide/dp/0672220563

I managed to snag a working Commodore 64 and a lot of assorted goodies (from someone who was giving it away for free) seeing it work even today was surreal. One of these days.. I'll have a better look at it..

Answer 2

This site may also be helpful. The C64 Programmers Reference already mentioned is a great resource. A text version of this book is available here.

EDIT: I now see that the comment above also mentions an electronic version of the Programmers Reference. Another source, if you can get a hold of them, are old issues of computer magazines like Compute! from back in the 80's.

Answer 3

Check ebay, I have regularly found similar official programming docs but for the Amiga, which I prefer to reminisce about over the C64 :)

Answer 4

In addition to what's already been mentioned:

"Programming the Commodore 64" by Raeto Collin West seemed pretty comprehensive as I remember, but I have to admit I got the book at a point when I'd already learned most of what was in it from other sources.

"The Commodore 64 ROMs revealed" by Nick Hampshire is a very useful reference book, but on its own it's not much of a "sit down and do something useful with it" learning experience. It's essentially a disassembly of the whole ROM (in 9-dot matrix printer "font") with pretty much every single instruction commented and explained.

Answer 5

The site called bombjack.org (named after a popular C-64 game) is a veritable gold mine of information and books and manuals on all aspects of Commodore programming and hardware. Go here and you will never be disappointed:

http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/

BionicBub