Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!scea!greg_labrec@interactive.sony.com From: mperdue@iquest.net (Mario Perdue) Newsgroups: scea.yaroze.beginners Subject: Re: A few requests Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 15:35:37 GMT Organization: SCEA Net Yaroze News Lines: 67 Message-ID: <33788386.949380@205.149.189.29> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: filter-hrtc1.nortel.net X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.1/32.230 On Tue, 13 May 1997 05:29:39 -0700, dp310@earthlink.net (Brian Gilman) wrote: > I got my Net Yaroze a couple days ago, and I've noted a few things >that would make things easier for someone learning the system. Right now, >as it is, the documentation that comes with the Net Yaroze needs to be >five or six volumes longer. Currently it would be extremely hard for >someone who meets the minimum reqs(Good knowledge of C) to write PSX >programs using just the documentation and samples that come with the Net >Yaroze. I agree that we need to do several more examples that show the basics, but I'll have to disagree with you on the manuals. I've done some work with other console dev systems, and the documentation for Yaroze is as good or better than the others I've seen. Yes, there have been (and still are) some shortcomings, but they are being addressed and the corrections and additions are being posted here. If you're having some specific problems, ask in one of the news groups. There are several people here (Sony reps and not) who could probably help you get started. Don't be shy about asking questions. After all, none of us has been doing this for long. >Therefore, it seems that the example code that is posted by SCEA >should be refined to cater to the lowest common denominator. A few things >should be done to the existing example code(By SCEA), and when writing >example code. > The #define's should be cut down to a minimum, and when they are >used, the same Macro names should be used in everyone's example source. >That will make the code more readable, and newbie's won't have to sort >out the common macro's when looking at different author's code. Actually, I find that more #defines makes the program easier to read. For example, when setting the scale of a sprite to one, I use the define ONE, not the constant 4096. > For variables, the name's used for common var's should also be >standardized. Variable names need to be very verbose, (i.e. >"WorldOrderingTable[2];" would be preffered over "wot[2];") if you know >what your doing then this will seem trivial, but I think it would >preffered by newbie's. That might be nice, but it's going to be pretty hard to get all these programmers scattered around the world to agree on the same standard names. I can only speak for myself, but I try to make the variable names self-explanatory. However, since I don't like to type any more than necessary, I'd probably use WorldOT[]. > For examples that show basic concepts, no user created external >libraries should be used that don't come with the Net Yaroze. Learning >how to display a 3D object can be confusing when everyone is using >multiple libs of their own. > This is just for example code that is posted to the examples >section, obviously you should do whatever you want when your writing for >yourself :). OK, I can buy that. I'm not aware of any 'basic' examples that use any user created libraries though. Please don't think that I'm dismissing your comments here. They all make good sense. I try to standardize #defines, variable names and function names in all my code; it makes cutting and pasting between programs much easier. However, each programmer has his/her own take on this stuff; it's like religon. I suspect that you'll be hard pressed to get people to change too much. Mario