Suggestion for ASM Usage running example

[TheDarkCoder]

This question is not specifically Amiga-related, I hope nobody is bothered.
I am giving a course on assembly programming. The course is focused on the MIPS architecture (choice forced by several constraints), but I tried also to give an overview about other approaches, such as m68k of course.

In the final lesson, I would like to show a program written in ASM which exploit something feasible in asm only. It would be very nice if the source code of the program is available.
I ask for some suggestion.
Since it's difficult to measure speed, I was thinking to show some really compact program, such as a 4k intro.
It should run on my windows laptop, which is equipped with WinUAE, so any Amiga prod should be ok. Of course, a MIPS program would also be nice but I don't know any.

Any suggestion is welcome!

[pmc]

If you're looking for a killer 4kb then how about Ikadalawampu by Loonies? Try doing that in anything other than asm!

http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54561

Superb in every way.

[xaind]

Ikadalawampu is very impressive. Has anyone managed to figure out what settings to use to make it work in WinUAE?

[Leffmann]

Any config with AGA, 32M RAM, 020 and FPU. It needs about a minute of precalc before it starts.

[Photon]

Very impressive for an Amiga 4K. Most OCS demos are impossible to write in a high-level language, but few have sources.

A 4k is a good idea cos even if the source isn't available it should be doable to decrunch and resource the 7-12K of code in a relatively short time.

If you can decrunch any demo in f.ex. PowerPacker or whatever, then you can always disassemble the binary and show the code that way.

[Lonewolf10]

Originally Posted by Leffmann

Any config with AGA, 32M RAM, 020 and FPU. It needs about a minute of precalc before it starts.

Why does it need so much RAM? The initial file is only 4K, or has the data within it been compressed multiple times??
I DL'ed the file but struggled to get it to work yesterday and so watched it on YouTube today ( [ Show youtube player ]). Very impressive.


Regards,
Lonewolf10

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf10

Why does it need so much RAM? The initial file is only 4K, or has the data within it been compressed multiple times??

Because the music and data for the effects (textures, tables etc. pp.) have to be precalculated. And this needs memory. The file size has nothing to do with the memory requirements and it's of course not packed multiple times as that wouldn't make sense at all.

[Lonewolf10]

Originally Posted by StingRay

Because the music and data for the effects (textures, tables etc. pp.) have to be precalculated. And this needs memory.

Ok. That is something I will keep in mind in future - create tables in RAM rather than wasting bytes in the executable


Regards,
Lonewolf10

[Photon]

Originally Posted by StingRay

Because the music and data for the effects (textures, tables etc. pp.) have to be precalculated.

Which textures?

And 15MB+ precalced music instead of 1.5K or so synth+notedata?

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by Photon

And 15MB+ precalced music instead of 1.5K or so synth+notedata?

Yes, because samples can be calculated in realtime (while CPU heavy effects run) because the 68k is so incredibly fast. This is Amiga so you have to make compromises and precalculating sample data is perfectly fine. Code something like this yourself before complaining about the memory requirements.

[mc6809e]

Compare a bignum ( > 64-bit ints) library written in C with the same routines written in assembly. In C, carries must be inferred. In assembly, one has access to the carry bit.