Hi,
> On Jan 15, 2023, at 11:19 AM, tom ehlert <t...@drivesnapshot.de> wrote:
>
>
>> Okay, I’m still even a few days after very confused. I came into
>> DOS with my only programming knowledge being on modern 64-bit
>> systems and I didn’t even go lower-level than C++.
>> I have no idea where to start - I would love to learn how to do all
>> the cool stuff like graphics and then extending the base stuff with
>> more bits (a bit theoretical, but would a 64-bit extender be
>> possible?) and a GUI desktop, but where do I learn this stuff? What should I
>> learn as a prerequisite?
>
> even in the dark times of MSDOS, there was these things called
> 'books'.
>
> you may also learn by looking at how other people have done this; look
> at http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/gui/
> there is plenty software drwaing lines and other stuff.
>
> last not least, google. there are still bazillion resources out there.
>
>
> Tom
Like Tom said, there are books available.
With few exceptions, the books are much better than trying to learn this stuff
from websites. Most of the stuff you will find online probably will not go into
the details you need. In my opinion, most of the online stuff requires a
minimum of understanding and experience. I’m not saying that it cannot be
learned strictly using the web. But, it will probably be a lot more difficult.
Fortunately, nowadays most of the books related to DOS programming are cheap.
Very cheap. Like pennies on the dollar cheap. A book that came out in the 90’s
on the topic for around $50 can usually be had now for about $5.
I don’t think your ready to tackle assembly under DOS yet. Not only do you need
to know some variant of assembly language. That really does require some
understanding of how DOS, BIOS and the computer itself work at such a low
level. This knowledge is mostly gained through experience programming for DOS.
Therefore, you will need to start with one of the higher level languages.
Either a variant of C or Pascal. For Pascal, the most common for DOS is Turbo
Pascal. There are loads of example programs for it in books and online.
However, Turbo Pascal is a closed source compiler. Nowadays, you can download
v5.5 for free from Embarcadero. But being a closed source compiler, there are
many individuals in the open source community that frown upon using it. That
probably make C a better choice. There are lots of C resources online as well.
For example, I recommend watching Jim’s video on creating a simple graphics
program to display some images to represent LEDs counting in binary from 0 to
255. It could be a definite starting point on C with graphics in DOS. He goes
through the whole processes of creating the program and explains each aspect
during the process. He sometimes also takes requests on different topics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--YP8yuRP-g
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--YP8yuRP-g>
:-)
Jerome
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