
Developing for AmigaOS or Amiga hardware is not more difficult than
for most other platforms. Some information is very basic, though,
and every developer should have it at hand if in any way possible.

While the list of information below is not endorsed by Amiga
Technologies, all the sources listed contain information that might
still be helpful and are sometimes used by Amiga International
themselves.

    *** PLEASE USE DISCRETION WHEN SEPARATING CURRENT AND UPWARDS
    *** COMPATIBLE INFORMATION FROM OLD OBSOLETE AND POTENTIALLY
    *** DANGEROUS COMMENTS.

The comments describing the sources' contents are purely the
opinion of the author of this text.

This is list of books and other sources that contain useful and
important information. Some of them are fairly common, some of them
might be hard to come by these days. Some of them might only be
available to you if you know a good friend of a friend who might
have a copy. Some contain old information that might not be
applicable any longer but may still be helpful when it comes to
better understanding the background of things. Those are marked as
"HISTORIC INFO" below. Note that "better understanding" does not
mean that everything mentioned is meant to be used or will stay
that way.

Books containing information about software aspects are marked
"SW". Books containing hardware information are marked "HW". Please
be very careful with any use of hardware information as hardware
features are subject to change much more than the OS API.

    *** You are urged to use all the information listed here with
    *** discretion. Use your good judgement and avoid grey and/or
    *** undocumented areas of the Amiga. Stay upwards compatible!
    *** Do not create any hacks and don't play dirty tricks!

You don't have to have all of the information listed below. But the
more information you read, the better you can do things without
violating Amiga programming rules.

First the RKM series, the official documentation for the OS up to
and including V37, i.e. OS2.04. These books do not explicitely
cover the current V40 release but are the basis for any
documentation on V40. They contain valid information.

    AMIGA ROM Kernel Reference Manual LIBRARIES, 3rd Edition.
    Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
    ISBN 0-201-56774-1

        [SW]
        This book is a *MUST*. It not only contains most of the
        information relevant to the OS, but also very important
        introductory texts, troubleshooting guides, and
        compatibility hints.


    AMIGA ROM Kernel Reference Manual DEVICES, 3rd Edition.
    Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
    ISBN 0-201-56775-1

        [SW]
        This book is also a *MUST*. It contains information about
        all the devices and resources and also documents the IFF
        standard.


    AMIGA User Interface Style Guide
    Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
    ISBN 0-201-57757-7

        [SW]
        This book is a *MUST*. It documents the conventions that
        should be followed when writing applications for the entire
        line of Amiga computers.


    AMIGA ROM Kernel Reference Manual Includes and Autodocs, 3rd Edition.
    Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
    ISBN 0-201-56773-3

        [HISTORIC INFO,SW]
        This contains is a complete reference to all the functions
        and data structures in the Amiga operating system. It might
        come in handy, though more current versions of the contents
        are available in electronic form as part of a current
        Native Developer Kit (NDK).


    AMIGA ROM Kernel Hardware Reference Manual, 3rd Edition.
    Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
    ISBN 0-201-56776-8

        [HISTORIC INFO,HW]
        This book is not really a must. It contains information
        about the hardware used in all Amiga models up to and
        including the A3000. It might be of interest to hardware
        designers or for better understanding of some things. It
        should not be used as base for any software development as
        the hardware used in Amiga computers is changing and will
        continue to change. In fact some of the hardware described
        in the book might not even be available anymore in current
        Amigas once you read this! You are *STRONGLY* urged to use
        the OS functions instead of hitting HW that may not be
        there!


    The Amiga Guru Book, a reference manual
    1993
    Ralph Babel, Falkenweg 3, D-65232 Taunusstein, Germany
    [Available through some international distributors, too.]

        [SW]
        This book is a *MUST*. It is currently the most complete
        reference to AmigaDOS, the disk operating system part of
        AmigaOS. Other important information is also contained in
        this book. Use the detailed information with discretion.
        Don't play any dirty tricks with it.


    Commodore Amiga A500/A2000 Technical Reference Manual
    [Published by C= in '86. Probably close to impossible to come by these
     days]

        [HISTORIC INFO,HW]
        This book describes the hardware of the old A500/A2000
        models. You'll also find comments on Zorro-II design
        issues and Autoconfiguration(tm) information. It might
        still be interesting to the hardware designer who wants to
        know how things evolved. Hardly anything in this book is of
        actual importance regarding current development, though.


    The AmigaDOS Manual, 3rd Edition.
    Bantam Books, Inc.
    ISBN 0-553-35403-5

        [SW]
        This book was the official Commodore AmigaDOS reference.
        You don't really need this book if you have The Amiga Guru
        Book. It might be interesting, though, provided you can
        still obtain a copy.


    Native Developer Kit (NDK)
    Amiga International
    [Version depends on current developments]

        [SW,HW]
        A *MUST*. An NDK contains the most current information
        available about AmigaOS in electronic form. As of this
        time, the 3.1 NDK is the most current one, describing
        release 3.1 of AmigaOS. If you want to keep up to date on
        development, you'll need a current NDK.
        Amiga International will make current NDK's available
        whenever possible.


    Amiga Mail
    Amiga International

        [SW,HW]
        Amiga Mail was the Commodore newsletter for developers. Old
        and relevant issues of Amiga Mail will be made available if
        possible.


Heinz Wrobel
<heinz@amiga.de>
