Getting started

Hello world example

Save the following as hello_world.ml:

import stdio

array hello_world = "hello world" petscii

void main(){
    putstr(hello_world, hello_world.length)
    while(true){}
}

Compile is using the following commandline:

java millfork.jar hello_world.ml -o hello_world -t c64 -I path_to_millfork\include

Run the output executable (here using the VICE emulator):

x64 hello_world.prg

The following options are crucial when compiling your sources:

-o FILENAME – specifies the base name for your output file, an appropriate file extension will be appended (prg for Commodore, xex for Atari, asm for assembly output, lbl for label file)
-I DIR;DIR;DIR;... – specifies the paths to directories with modules to include.
-t PLATFORM – specifies the target platform (c64 is the default). Each platform is defined in an .ini file in the include directory. For the list of supported platforms, see Supported platforms

You may be also interested in the following:

-O, -O2, -O3 – enable optimization (various levels)
--detailed-flow – use more resource-consuming but more precise flow analysis engine for better optimization
-s – additionally generate assembly output
-g – additionally generate a label file, in format compatible with VICE emulator
-r PROGRAM – automatically launch given program after successful compilation
-Wall – enable all warnings
--help – list all commandline options