Proxomitron reduces RWIN to 32768

[Oddysey]

Kevin,

Yes, some knowledge of coding would be good. (tongue in cheek).

Here's the deal..... In essence, a debugger is a program that can look at code as it is loaded from the disk (or other storage medium), and display it for you in static mode. Or it can look at and display code as it is executing within the processor, all in real time. That latter mode can get real informative, if you have an idea of what to look for, hence, the erstwhile need to know something about programming in assembly language.

Debuggers can only display what's going on in hexadecimal format, and in the machine's native assembly language. (That language differs from chip maker to chip maker.) But, if you're willing to deal with things in static mode, then a decompiler will attempt to read all that code from the disk, and then make educated guesses as to how the code was generated from a source language, usually C (or a variant), BASIC, perhaps Java, or even one of the .NET modules. If you guessed that this is a much more time consuming (and expensive to buy) method, you're right, it is. But if you don't want to get down in the bowels, then it is the only way to go, plus, most of these efforts are pretty mature these days.

When I used Periscope (in the pioneer days, with an outboard monitor hooked up to a CTTY port), it was all done in one flavor - assembly, and without any comments to accompany the results. Now, as I understand it, things are a whole lot better, for those who wish to do this kind of thing. I still do (so wish), but sadly I have too many other irons in the fire, so I just don't have any time for it any more.

If you're still interested, then by all means, JJoe lists several sites that are of great benefit to both beginners and pros in this field. In addition, if you want to hone your skills, or just get a good laugh (after you start understanding what's going on), then visit The Daily WTF, a site where they break down obvious errors in programming, and from which you can learn what not to do.

Report back in 6 months, and tell us when they're gonna let you outta the booby hatch!


Oddysey