about emulator programming

[zano2k5]

well i would like to help u ppl program on tha emulator but one thing tho is that im a computer pro for a kid but i can read programing to a certain limit and configure sometimes depend on tha problem and what its write...... but i cant program overall and i woulda like step to step bases and books or probably video on what u did on pcsx2 emulator atleast after improving i would try to help on tha open source emulator and practice from time to time..........

[morpha]

PCSX2 is one heck of a Goliath to an unexperienced David, which you seem to be. It's complex, multi-platform, multi-threaded and plugin-based.
I doubt that there's a video but if you really want to get into it, get the source and see if you can learn anything from just browsing the code.

[zano2k5]

just gimme a link to tha source code

[morpha]

Official: http://pcsx2.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/
Playground: http://pcsx2-playground.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/

[cottonvibes]

if you're a beginner, emulation isn't a good way to learn programming.
i recommend starting out learning a simple programming language like visual basic, then move on to java/c#, then finally start learning c/c++.
and while you're doing that, you can start learning about emulation, computer architecture, assembly, and recompilation.
finally you'll eventually know enough to start understanding pcsx2's source code.

all that takes years of experience, and its not something that can be learned overnight.
so if you're really interested in becoming a programmer and emulation dev, i recommend you follow what i said above. and good luck

[zano2k5]

i know tis aint a over nite thing but as what i said i can read it to a certain limit which i already have a little experience with programming and thats about it but if u know any books related to emulator programming flint it on me cause then i would try to run like gameboy games and so on like di easy ones or snes or so .................best way to learn is when ur interested in something aint that rite ........previously read some books like c in python which is another good language

[rama]

Grab yourself the sources of your favourite emulator, get it to compile, try to modify things.
You'll soon run into problems, which you can solve by reading up on the subject or by asking around in irc.
(I just hope your favourite emulator has an active irc channel )
If after that you're still interrested, then you'll know already what to learn, what can and can't be done, etc.

Good luck

[echosierra]

Grab yourself the sources of your favourite emulator, get it to compile, try to modify things.
You'll soon run into problems, which you can solve by reading up on the subject or by asking around in irc.
(I just hope your favourite emulator has an active irc channel )
If after that you're still interrested, then you'll know already what to learn, what can and can't be done, etc.

Good luck

This is kind of cruel, nobody can pick up programming by just looking at emulator code. You have to start from the ground and work up

See if you can take classes at your local community college, if you're in-district (assuming you're in the US) it's pretty cheap. Introductory CS classes are good, Computer Architecture classes are better. Anything that gets you to learn C/C++. Learn x86 assembly if possible, knowing how your computer works is critical to knowing how the emulator operates. Once you're able to look at the source code and make sense of it, you're almost there
Your local library/college may have books on emulation or related subjects, specifically compiler and binary translation theory. If not, the internet is a good resource.

This is just to understand how the central part of the emulator works. If you want to get into sound/graphic emulation, that's a whole other ballgame. As far as I'm concerned it's deep voodoo magic, whomever writes them are demi-gods in my eyes.

[rama]

echosierra:
That's funny, guess how I learned it

[echosierra]

echosierra:
That's funny, guess how I learned it

I should have qualified it with a conditional. No 'normal' person can learn by just staring at the code

It isn't about just knowing what the code does, it's seeing how to make it better. Learning how to program is only half the battle, the real difficulty is knowing what to code.