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MAC/65

MAC/65 is a 6502 assembler written by Stephen D. Lawrow for Atari 8-bit computers. MAC/65 was first released on floppy disk by Optimized Systems Software in 1982, with the program requiring 16 KB RAM. A bank switched "SuperCartridge" from OSS followed in January 1984 for US$99, occupying only 8 KB. MAC/65 is structured similarly to the Atari Assembler Editor cartridge, combining a line editor, assembler, and debugger into a single package. Its reputation was based on being much faster than either the Assembler Editor or the standalone Atari Macro Assembler. Brian Moriarty of Infocom wrote, "No assembler [at the time] on the C64 even comes CLOSE to MAC/65. Take it from someone who looked for one." It was used to write numerous commercial games and applications, and the majority of assembly language listings in ANALOG Computing were written with MAC/65. According to Lawrow, MAC/65 was used to compile not only itself, but BASIC XL and BASIC XE.

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Article summary

MAC/65 is a 6502 assembler written by Stephen D. Lawrow for Atari 8-bit computers. MAC/65 was first released on floppy disk by Optimized Systems Software in 1982, with the program requiring 16 KB RAM. A bank switched "SuperCartridge" from OSS followed in January 1984 for US$99, occupying only 8 KB. MAC/65 is structured similarly to the Atari Assembler Editor cartridge, combining a line editor, assembler, and debugger into a single package. Its reputation was based on being much faster than either the Assembler Editor or the standalone Atari Macro Assembler. Brian Moriarty of Infocom wrote, "No assembler [at the time] on the C64 even comes CLOSE to MAC/65. Take it from someone who looked for one." It was used to write numerous commercial games and applications, and the majority of assembly language listings in ANALOG Computing were written with MAC/65. According to Lawrow, MAC/65 was used to compile not only itself, but BASIC XL and BASIC XE.

Key claims

  1. release date: 1982 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the release date is "1982". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1354228644

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.