Assembler#
Given the extremely slow performance of
Atari Basic, the go-to language for programmers writing games or other speed-critical programs was assembler. Shepardson Microsystems used a cross-compiler to write BASIC, but at the same time began development of their own assembler which was later released as the
Atari Assembler Editor in ROM cartridge format. Assembler/Editor lacked many features, and was only suitable for small programs, so Atari also released the disk-based high-end
Atari Macro Assembler. Macro Assembler was glacially slow, and there was a thriving market for 3rd party assemblers and debuggers to fix the problems seen in one or the other.
Overview#
- 6502 OpCodes.xlsx ; Excel table with all opcodes and comparision between different Assemblers
Assembler for Atari Computers#
Cross-Assembler#
- ATASM ; Mac/65 compatible cross assembler
- MADS ; powerful and modern cross assembler under constant development
- XASM ; xasm is a 6502 cross-assembler with some syntax extensions. By default it generates binaries for Atari 8-bit computers.
- APX-20051 Cosmatic Atari Development Package ; cross-assembler for 1802 assembly language
Development IDE#
- WUDSN IDE ; smartest development environment available
Books#
- The Atari Assembler ; detailed and easy-to-read introduction to programming 6502-assembly on the Atari using Assembler/Editor.