/usr/share/doc/z88dk-doc/faq.html

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<TITLE>Answers to some (not so) Frequently Asked Questions</TITLE>
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<CENTER><H1>Some Answers...</H1>
<H6>..to some occasionally asked questions</H6></CENTER>


<OL>
        <LI> <A HREF="#1">What's it all about</A>
        <LI> <A HREF="#2">Why bother with C</A>
        <LI> <A HREF="#3">I've discovered this bug...</A>
        <LI> <A HREF="#4">The examples don't compile properly</A>
        <LI> <A HREF="#5">How do I access memory directly</A>
</OL>

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<H3><A NAME="1"></A>What's it all about</H3>

<P>z88dk is a complete programming package originally designed to produce
programs for the Cambridge Computers Ltd z88 computer. The z88 is a z80a
based machine and was Sir Clive Sinclairs first (and last..) computer
after selling Sinclair Research to Amstrad, for more details on the z88 see
<A HREF="http://ww.z88forever.org.uk">Z88
Forever</A></P>

<P>The package consists of a Small C+ compiler (much extended), a peephole
optimizer an integrated assembler/linker and a front end to drive it all.
There's also an additional support program to facilitate the easy building
of z88 applications<P>

<P>The kit an be easily retargetted for other z80 based machines - in
5 minutes I had created some simple code to allow Spectrum programs
to be produced.</P>

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<H3><A NAME="2"></A>Why bother with C</H3>

<P>Well, for almost as long as I can remember people on c.s.s. have been
going on about a C compiler, but no one has ever done anything about it
(with the exception of John Elliot who created a wrapper for Hitech C),
but that's not what this section is about....why bother with C..well:</P>

<UL>
        <LI> Complex expressions can be easily and quickly written
        <LI> Code can be easily ported from other machines
        <LI> Your code is now portable across platforms
        <LI> It's just quicker to write than the equivalent assembler
</UL>

<P>And lots of other reasons, I'm not going to lie, the code will be larger
than hand coded assembler, but it will be so much easier to maintain, and
will take far less time to write that it is worth it! [Not that I'm
biased!]</P>

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<H3><A NAME="3"></A>I've discovered this bug...</H3>

<P>Good! There's bound to be some, but are you sure it's not in your
code? If not then test without optimization (use -O0) and it's still
there try to isolate where it goes wrong - is it in the generated code, or
is it in a library function? Let me know by sending me the C source, the
assembler output and the optimizer output, and point out where it's
going wrong as well. If it's in a library routine, can you come up with
a fix for it?</P>

<P>Basically, if you've found a bug make sure you can reproduce it - how
does it occur - does it pop up in any other place? Send me examples of it
and it at all possible send me a fix! Basically send me as much information
as you can.</P>

<P>On the other hand, if it's a bug in the assembler then read the z80asm.txt file in the doc directory for more details as to what to do with it!</P>

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<H3><A NAME="4"></A>I can't compile the examples</H3>

<P>Only one thing to say here - are you supply the correct libraries?
Anything that uses floating point needs to be linked with -lm (generic) for maths support. For the z88, anything that uses graphics
needs to be linked with -lgfx. The README in each examples program tells
you how to compile them.</P>

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<H3><A NAME="5"></A>How do I access memory directly</H3>

<P>The compiler, sccz80, offers you several ways of accessing memory
directly - you can cast a constant to a pointer to type and then dereference it (eg *(char *) 40000) or you can use the "external pointer" data type which is detailed in the main doc file.</P>


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