View source for Programming guide

This programming guide is the complement to the [[NES reference guide]].  You will find more in-depth documentation about specific topics, tutorials on the most common problems encountered,  a list of existing tools that will assist you during you development phase and more. If you're new to NES development, you should give a look to the "[[#Getting started|getting started]]" section first.

=== Getting started ===
*[[Before the basics]]
*[[Installing CC65]]
*[[Programming Basics]]

=== General reference ===
* [[PPU power up state#Best practice|Waiting for the PPU to power on]]
* [[CHR-ROM vs CHR-RAM]] and how to switch an NROM project from the former to the latter
* [[Emulation Libraries]]
* [[Catch-up]] technique used by emulators
* [[PowerPak]] / [[Everdrive N8]]
* [[Music]]: [[:Category:Expansion audio|Expansion audio]]
* [[Tools]] &mdash; includes assemblers, disassemblers, graphics, music/audio, and emulator-related utilities

=== Tutorials === 
* [[CPU|CPU basics]]
* [[PPU|PPU reference]]
* [[APU basics]]
* [[Compression]]
** [[Fixed Bit Length Encoding]]
* [[Programming mappers]]
** [[Programming UNROM|UNROM and UOROM]]
** [[Programming MMC1|MMC1]]
* Programming Techniques
** [[6502 assembly optimisations]]
** [[RTS Trick]]
** [[Jump Table]]
** [[Scanning Tables]]
** [[Scanning Large Tables]]
** [[Synthetic Instructions]]
** [[Programming with unofficial opcodes]]
** [[Pointer table]]s
** [[Divide by 3]]
** [[Multibyte constant]]
* [[Limitations]]
* [[Emulation Tutorials]]
* [[Sample RAM map]]
* [[PPU scrolling]]
** How to scroll an infinite map
** How to scroll with less artifact
** How to split the screen for a status bar
** How to do parallax scrolling with the scroll register
* [[Sprite size]]
* [http://story.monoroch.net/nes_raster.html How to make raster effects] by Bregalad
* [[The frame and NMIs]] by Disch
** [[NMI thread]]: Make your status bar rock-solid
* [[Nerdy Nights sound]]
* [[Palette change mid frame]]
* [[Don't hardcode OAM addresses]]

=== Libraries and samples ===

==== System ====
* [[Init code]]
* [[Registers]]

==== Input ====
* [[Controller Reading]]

==== Graphics ====
* [[Detecting video standard]]
* [[Placeholder graphics]]
* [http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?p=142703#p142703 RLE decompression code for CHR] by [[User:Koitsu|koitsu]]

==== Math ====
* [[Multiplication by a constant integer]]
* [[Division by a constant integer]]
* [[16-bit BCD|An efficient 16-bit binary to decimal converter]]
* [[8-bit Multiply|Multiplies two 8-bit integers to a 16-bit result]]
* [[8-bit Divide|Divide two 8-bit integers to a 16-bit result]]
* [[Fast signed multiply|Fast table driven multiplication]]
* [[Random number generator]]

==== Audio ====
* [[APU period table]]
* [[Audio drivers]]
* [[Nerdtracker player in NESASM]]

==== Misc ====
* [//forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?p=194826#p194826 Skipping the FDS license screen]

==== Examples ====
* [[Projects]] - includes many useful open-source examples.
* [http://nintendoage.com/pub/faq/NA/index.html?load=nerdy_nights_out.html Nerdy Nights Out (aka: Learning 6502)] by BunnyBoy
* [https://shiru.untergrund.net/articles/programming_nes_games_in_c.htm Programming NES Games in C] by Shiru
* [https://nesdoug.com/ How to Program an NES game in C] by dougeff
* [https://cppchriscpp.github.io/nes-starter-kit Simple game and editing guide (in C)] by cppchriscpp
* [https://pineight.com/nes/#template Project template] by tepples
* [//forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=11151 Minimal NES example using ca65] by rainwarrior

=== Reverse engineered techniques ===
* [[Bad Apple]] video compression
* [//forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=5860 Codemasters tile compression]
* [//forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=8675 Big Bird's Hide and Speak sample compression]
* [//forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=8609 Battletoads text compression] (Huffman coding)
* [//forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=8588 Rad Racer rendering]

=== Useful reference materials ===
==== Books ====
* Cady, Fredrick M. (1997). ''Microcontrollers and Microcomputers: Principles of Software and Hardware Engineering''. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511008-0.
* Eyes, David; Lichty, Ron (1986). ''Programming the 65816 including the 6502, 65C02, and 65802''. New York: Brady Books/Prentice Hall Press (Simon & Schuster, Inc). ISBN 0-89303-789-3.
* Fernandez, Judi N. (1983). ''6502 Assembly Language Programming (Self-teaching Guides)''. John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 978-0471861201.
* Leventhal, Lance A. (1986). ''6502 Assembly Language Programming 2nd Edition''. Osborne/McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-881216-X.
* Zaks, Rodnay (1983). ''Programming the 6502 (Fourth Edition)''. Sybex, Inc. ISBN 0-89588-135-7.
* Zaks, Rodnay (1982). ''Advanced 6502 Programming''. Sybex, Inc. ISBN 0-89588-089-X.
* Zaks, Rodnay (1980). ''Programming the 6502 (Third Edition)''. Sybex, Inc. ISBN 0-89588-046-6.

==== Online ====
* [http://wdc65xx.com/Programming-Manual/ Programming the 65816 (including the 6502, 65C02, and 65802)] by Western Design Center
*# [http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/documentation/Programmingthe65816_ProgManual.pdf Programmingthe65816_ProgManual.pdf] &mdash; 54MBytes, created 2015/03/27.
*#* This is a full scan of the original Eyes/Lichty book using full images for each page, with the added bonus of OCR being applied so that text is searchable and copy-paste-able.  Accurate/reliable given the nature of the scan.
*#**[https://jdc.koitsu.org/lj/Programmingthe65816_ProgManual.pdf backup copy] via [[User:Koitsu|Koitsu]]
*#**[http://alle.fi/mirror/Programmingthe65816_ProgManual.pdf backup copy] via [[User:Qalle|Qalle]]
*# [[Media:Programmanual.pdf|Programmanual.pdf]] (a.k.a. WDC65C816_Program_Manual.pdf) &mdash; 1.7MBytes, created 2007/04/16.
*#* This is a "pure text" version of the Eyes/Lichty book, however it is rife with very dangerous typos (wrong opcodes, etc.) in many areas, and contains a large number of formatting/layout mistakes not present in the original book.  Bill Mensch (6502/65C02/65816 architect/designer) [http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?p=142722#p142722 confirmed these mistakes], stating WDC is in the process of fixing them.  If at all possible, use the newer PDF mentioned above.
*#* It is suspected that WDC has pulled this PDF entirely from [http://65xx.com/Products/Programming_and_Hardware-Manuals/ their website], instead advocating purchasing a "redone" version of the Lichty/Eyes book via Amazon.  Kindle and paperback versions are available, but I ([[User:Koitsu|Koitsu]]) have not reviewed it.

=== Links ===
*[http://www.zophar.net/documents/6502/6502-txt.html The infamous 6502.txt]: allegedly complete info on the 6502 instructions
*[http://www.atariarchives.org/mlb/ Machine Language for Beginners]: a 1983 introduction to 6502 assembly language