mii_emu/docs/Compiling.md

## Top down view

<center>
   <img src="mui_emulator.drawio.png" alt="Top down view">
   <i>Here how it's supposed to work!</i>
</center>

The emulator was made to be portable on most things. It's plain C compiled with -Wextras, I run in regularly thru the static analyser, and I regulartly check it with valgrind. So it's pretty clean.

It evolved from the original mess, and I organized it into bits which would make porting it to other platform easier.


## How to I compile it and run it?
   * You need a C compiler, make, and a few libraries:
      * libasound2-dev [ optional, for audio ]
      * libgl-dev
      * libglu-dev
      * libx11-dev
   * Many of them will probably be installed already if you regulargly compile stuff.
   * Then just type `make` and it should compile.
   * To run it, just type `build-x86_64-linux-gnu/bin/mii_emu` and it should start.

## Development
* This is the first project I made using vscode as my main IDE; I used Eclipse for many years as the indexer was pretty much unbeatable (still is).
* To support vscode I needed some tooling to create the '*compile_commands.json*' file, which is used by the C/C++ extension to provide intellisense. So to create that file, you use `make lsp` and it will create the file in the project directory.
* Another thing vscode sucks at is Makefiles (despite the extension, building is painful and next to useless). So there is a target called `make watch` that you can run in a separate terminal to auto-build as soon as you save any files in vscode. That is when you realize for example that vscode re-save the file anytime you press control-S, regardless of wether the file has changed or not. So you end up with a lot of unnecessary builds. I'm sure there is a way to fix that, but I haven't found it yet.

## Code Style
I have pretty consistent code style across my projects.
* tabs=4. Just because.
* 80 columns lines or so. I don't like to scroll horizontally and I like splitting my screen vertically. (also see, tabs=4!).
* K&R style exclusively. None of that Allman/GNU horribleness.
* GNU99 Dialect.
* No Yoda, we are no longer in 1975. `if (0 == foo)` is just stupid.
* I use !! to convert to 1 or zero from an expression. I call it the 'normalisation operator'. it is not commonly seen, apart from places like the Linux kernel.
* I use *minipt.h* for protothreads. I like protothreads, and when you are aware of their limitations, they are a great tool. They are used for the video rendering, the no-slot-clock etc.

## What needs doing?
* I'm sure there are bugs. I haven't tested it on a lot of hardware, and apart from quite a few games and a few known productivity app, it had had very little extensive testing. So testing!
* In the code there are a few bits which needs fixing
   * The floppy driver still has issues writing, most notably it fails to 'bit copy' stuff when using Copy II plus. It's a timing issue, but I haven't found it yet.