Back to the future: Writing 6502 assembler with Amazon Q Developer
The author used Amazon Q Developer to enhance a Commodore 64 program, transitioning from BASIC to 6502 assembler, and encourages participation in the AWS Game Builder Challenge for game development.
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The article discusses the author's experience using Amazon Q Developer to write code for the Commodore 64, a vintage computer. The author initially created a simple program in C64 BASIC that displayed a sprite moving across the screen. After encountering issues, they sought assistance from Amazon Q, which provided solutions and corrections. The author then enhanced the program to include multiple sprites and explored online tools for sprite editing. Transitioning to 6502 assembler, the author utilized the Kick Assembler tool and VSCode to improve performance, successfully running a program with bouncing sprites. The post highlights the potential of Amazon Q Developer for modernizing legacy code and encourages readers to participate in the AWS Game Builder Challenge, a competition for creating games using AWS services.
- The author successfully used Amazon Q Developer to write and debug code for the Commodore 64.
- The transition from BASIC to 6502 assembler improved the performance of the sprite program.
- Amazon Q Developer proved to be a valuable tool for coding and troubleshooting.
- The AWS Game Builder Challenge invites participants of all skill levels to create games using AWS services.
- The post emphasizes the potential of modern tools to assist in working with legacy programming languages and systems.
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11 commentsWho knows, it might be a shot in the arm for retrocomputing enthusiasts.
// Zero page variables
.const zp_x = $FB
.const zp_y = $FE
.const zp_dx = $101
.const zp_dy = $104
It's a small distinction, but surprising to see this mix up as assembly language enthusiasts tend to be sticklers for these details!
Seriously though it makes me think of how hit-or-miss Microsoft Copilot is at writing code (we have a special license to use it at work.)
For certain things such as writing short bash, CMD.EXE and PowerShell scripts it does great. It writes great list comprehensions in Python. Can convert code defining a set of typed dicts to a set of dataclasses. Can write a SQL query using an obscure (to me) feature and then rewrite it in JooQ.
But write a CTE expression in JooQ? It doesn't understand how to break the circularity.
Configure Vite? It will insist on the same wrong answers ceaselessly. On the other hand, if you look at StackOverlow the answer seems to be "you can't get here from there" or "there is this plugin that might help if it worked but it doesn't."
Recently I have been busy writing the emulator in Golang:
I use my fingers and 9 small rocks...
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