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Hey all,

So I've been learning BASIC in my free time on my C64, but I'm wanting to learn Z80 assembly (yes I know the C64 uses a 6502 CPU). What are the best resources for someone wanting to learn Z80 Assembly who is fairly new to programming and are there any good resources tailored to the SG-1000/Master System/Game Gear?

Thank you,

Braillynn

https://www.smspower.org/maxim/HowToProgram/Lesson1

https://www.smspower.org/uploads/Development/z80cpu_um.zip
https://www.smspower.org/uploads/Development/z80-documented.pdf

Rodney Zaks's book Programming the Z80 is considered one of the canonical guides. I'm sure I saw it freely available online, possibly with the author's blessing, although I prefer hard copies for this kind of reading (I have two copies of Zaks - one of which is now just a collection of loose pages!)

An online reference I use all the time is https://jnz.dk/z80/opref.html and there is some more general information about the Z80 on that site here.

Otherwise this community is pretty great at supporting beginners!

Definitely start with Maxim's tutorials and then research / ask if you have questions.

One last thing, for some reason WLA-DX can seem a little unapproachable when you're starting out, but if you ultimately intend to write games for the SMS or similar system, I'd recommend using it as soon as you can. Other, simpler, assemblers can seem like they are easier but the rich features in WLA-DX, I think, make learning that much quicker.

Author	Message
Braillynn Joined: 23 Dec 2022 Posts: 6	Z80 Assembly for a beginner? Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 7:33 am
Braillynn Joined: 23 Dec 2022 Posts: 6	Hey all, So I've been learning BASIC in my free time on my C64, but I'm wanting to learn Z80 assembly (yes I know the C64 uses a 6502 CPU). What are the best resources for someone wanting to learn Z80 Assembly who is fairly new to programming and are there any good resources tailored to the SG-1000/Master System/Game Gear? Thank you, Braillynn

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14732 Location: London	Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 8:59 am
	https://www.smspower.org/maxim/HowToProgram/Lesson1

segarule Joined: 23 Jan 2010 Posts: 435	Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 9:24 am
segarule Joined: 23 Jan 2010 Posts: 435	https://www.smspower.org/uploads/Development/z80cpu_um.zip https://www.smspower.org/uploads/Development/z80-documented.pdf

willbritton Joined: 06 Mar 2022 Posts: 668 Location: London, UK	Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 10:03 am
	Rodney Zaks's book Programming the Z80 is considered one of the canonical guides. I'm sure I saw it freely available online, possibly with the author's blessing, although I prefer hard copies for this kind of reading (I have two copies of Zaks - one of which is now just a collection of loose pages!) An online reference I use all the time is https://jnz.dk/z80/opref.html and there is some more general information about the Z80 on that site here. Otherwise this community is pretty great at supporting beginners! Definitely start with Maxim's tutorials and then research / ask if you have questions. One last thing, for some reason WLA-DX can seem a little unapproachable when you're starting out, but if you ultimately intend to write games for the SMS or similar system, I'd recommend using it as soon as you can. Other, simpler, assemblers can seem like they are easier but the rich features in WLA-DX, I think, make learning that much quicker.

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