Programming the 6502
Programming the 6502 by Rodnay Zaksby Rodnay Zaks
Shares rank 59 of 115 programming books by recommenders
Recommended as a dedicated 6502 assembly book and one of the standard works people used to learn the chip.
Recommended as a dedicated 6502 assembly book and one of the standard works people used to learn the chip.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Standard work for learning 6502
“one of the "standard works" to learn 6502 back in the day”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II” Dedicated 6502 assembly programming book
“For actual 6502 programming you'll need a dedicated 6502 assembly programming book, for example the aforementioned Rodney Zaks books.”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II” Readable for young teenagers
“Read it as a young teenager, can recommend.”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Programming the 6502by Rodnay ZaksThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Read it as a young teenager, can recommend.”
“For actual 6502 programming you'll need a dedicated 6502 assembly programming book, for example the aforementioned Rodney Zaks books.”
“one of the "standard works" to learn 6502 back in the day”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.