[Purkinje]

I know that a pretty thorough knowledge of some high-level programming language, like Java, C, C++, is required to write an emulator, but what else must you know?

Is the processor architecture important? What about the other hardware present on the system you wish to emulate?

Also, are there any textbooks I could study to master the concepts of 'emulation,' not just console emulation?



Basically, I'm learning Java right now, and I'm interested in contributing to an emulator sometime in the future, but I'm not sure of the other skills required to do so.

Thanks for any and all suggestions, guys.

 

[Kaizen]

I know that a pretty thorough knowledge of some high-level programming language, like Java, C, C++, is required to write an emulator, but what else must you know?

Is the processor architecture important? What about the other hardware present on the system you wish to emulate?

Also, are there any textbooks I could study to master the concepts of 'emulation,' not just console emulation?



Basically, I'm learning Java right now, and I'm interested in contributing to an emulator sometime in the future, but I'm not sure of the other skills required to do so.

Thanks for any and all suggestions, guys.

You will need every available technical document on the system

sdk's, hardware documents etc

 

[ElijahTW]

Hasn't this been asked before? Many many times before?

 

[Purkinje]

It probably has, I just didn't see any other threads when I ran a search for it.

If you could point me in the right direction, I'd be grateful

 

[runawayprisoner]

Learning about the machine architecture is like learning how to think.
Learning about the machine SDK is like learning about how to imagine.
Learning Java/C/C++ is like learning how to sketch.
Learning ASM (on both the emulating machine and the emulated machine) is like learning how to actually turn your sketch into a line.
Knowing all of the above means the rest depends on you. :thumb:

But really... no one can tell you what skill sets are needed to contribute or write an emulator. You just... know what to do when you get there. Usually emulation projects are done as a side hobby to better understand how a particular system works. It isn't something the emulator authors do on a regular basis... so to say... these people actually have their own professions that often have nothing to do with emulation at all. If you don't have a profession in mind then reaching that kind of level is very pointless.

 

[Purkinje]

But really... no one can tell you what skill sets are needed to contribute or write an emulator. You just... know what to do when you get there. Usually emulation projects are done as a side hobby to better understand how a particular system works. It isn't something the emulator authors do on a regular basis... so to say... these people actually have their own professions that often have nothing to do with emulation at all. If you don't have a profession in mind then reaching that kind of level is very pointless.

Yes Yes, i'm not aspiring to be an emulator writer by any means, but I do want to be and I'm studying to be a programmer.

As I become more familiar with computer programming in general, I wanted to know what else I should know if I want to contribute to an emulator project in my spare time and certainly not as a profession or something.

Anyways, thanks for the advice you could give me, everyone.