prog8/docs/source/targetsystem.rst

***************************
Target system specification
***************************

Prog8 targets the following hardware:

- 8 bit MOS 6502/6510 CPU
- 64 Kb addressable memory (RAM or ROM)
- memory mapped I/O registers

The main target machine is the Commodore-64, which is an example of this.
This chapter explains the relevant system details of such a machine.


Memory Model
============

Physical address space layout
-----------------------------

The 6502 CPU can address 64 kilobyte of memory.
Most of the 64 kilobyte address space can be used by Prog8 programs.
This is a hard limit: there is no built-in support for RAM expansions or bank switching.


======================  ==================  ========
memory area             type                note
======================  ==================  ========
``$00``--``$ff``        ZeroPage            contains many sensitive system variables
``$100``--``$1ff``      Hardware stack      used by the CPU, normally not accessed directly
``$0200``--``$ffff``    Free RAM or ROM     free to use memory area, often a mix of RAM and ROM
======================  ==================  ========


A few of these memory addresses are reserved and cannot be used for arbitrary data.
They have a special hardware function, or are reserved for internal use in the
code generated by the compiler:

==================  =======================
reserved address    in use for
==================  =======================
``$00``             data direction (CPU hw)
``$01``             bank select (CPU hw)
``$02``             internal scratch variable
``$03``             internal scratch variable
``$fb - $fc``       internal scratch variable
``$fd - $fe``       internal scratch variable
``$fffa - $fffb``   NMI vector (CPU hw)
``$fffc - $fffd``   RESET vector (CPU hw)
``$fffe - $ffff``   IRQ vector (CPU hw)
==================  =======================

The actual machine will often have many other special addresses as well,
For example, the Commodore-64 has:

- ROMs installed in the machine: BASIC, kernal and character roms. Occupying ``$a000``--``$bfff`` and ``$e000``--``$ffff``.
- memory-mapped I/O registers, for the video and sound chips, and the CIA's. Occupying ``$d000``--``$dfff``.
- RAM areas that are used for screen graphics and sprite data:  usually at ``$0400``--``$07ff``.

Prog8 programs can access all of those special memory locations but it will have a special meaning.


.. _zeropage:

ZeroPage ("ZP")
---------------

The ZeroPage memory block ``$02``--``$ff`` can be regarded as 254 CPU 'registers', because
they take less clock cycles to access and need fewer instruction bytes than accessing other memory locations outside of the ZP.
Theoretically they can all be used in a program, with the follwoing limitations:

- several addresses (``$02``, ``$03``, ``$fb - $fc``, ``$fd - $fe``) are reserved for internal use
- most other addresses will already be in use by the machine's operating system or kernal,
  and overwriting them will probably crash the machine. It is possible to use all of these
  yourself, but only if the program takes over the entire system (and seizes control from the regular kernal).
  This means it can no longer use (most) BASIC and kernal routines from ROM.
- it's more convenient and safe to let the compiler allocate these addresses for you and just
  use symbolic names in the program code.

Prog8 knows what addresses are safe to use in the various ZP handling configurations.
It will use the free ZP addresses to place its ZP variables in,
until they're all used up. If instructed to output a program that takes over the entire
machine, (almost) all of the ZP addresses are suddenly available and will be used.

**ZeroPage handling is configurable:**
There's a global program directive to specify the way the compiler
treats the ZP for the program. The default is to be reasonably restrictive to use the
part of the ZP that is not used by the C64's kernal routines.
It's possible to claim the whole ZP as well (by disabling the operating system or kernal).
If you want, it's also possible to be more restricive and stay clear of the addresses used by BASIC routines too.
This allows the program to exit cleanly back to a BASIC ready prompt - something that is not possible in the other modes.


IRQs and the ZeroPage
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The normal IRQ routine in the C-64's kernal will read and write several addresses in the ZP
(such as the system's software jiffy clock which sits in ``$a0 - $a2``):

``$a0 - $a2``; ``$91``; ``$c0``; ``$c5``; ``$cb``; ``$f5 - $f6``

These addresses will *never* be used by the compiler for ZP variables, so variables will
not interfere with the IRQ routine and vice versa. This is true for the normal ZP mode but also
for the mode where the whole system and ZP have been taken over.
So the normal IRQ vector can still run and will be when the program is started!




CPU
===

Directly Usable Registers
-------------------------

The following 6502 CPU hardware registers are directly usable in program code (and are reserved symbols):

- ``A``, ``X``, ``Y``  the three main cpu registers (8 bits)
- the status register (P) carry flag and interrupt disable flag can be written via a couple of special
  builtin functions (``set_carry()``, ``clear_carry()``, ``set_irqd()``,  ``clear_irqd()``)

However, you must assume that the 3 hardware registers ``A``, ``X`` and ``Y``
are volatile. Their values cannot be depended upon, the compiler will use them as required.
Even simple assignments may require modification of one or more of the registers (for instance, when using arrays).

Even more important, the ``X`` register is used as an evaluation stack pointer.
If you mess with it, you will destroy the evaluation stack and likely crash your program.
In some cases the compiler will warn you about this, but you should really avoid to use
this register. It's possible to store/restore the register's value (using special built in functions)
for the cases you really really need to use it directly.


Subroutine Calling Conventions
------------------------------

**Kernel/assembly subroutines:**
Arguments and results are passed via registers.
Sometimes the status register's Carry flag is used as well (as a boolean flag).
Special care should be taken when the subroutine clobbers the X register.
If it does, X must be saved before and restored after the call.

**Normal user defined subroutines:**
Arguments and result values are passed via global variables stored in memory
*These are not allocated on a stack* so it is not possible to create recursive calls!
The result value(s) of a subroutine are returned on the evaluation stack,
to make it possible to use subroutines in expressions.