Author Topic: Dipping my toes into OS/2 programming!  (Read 626 times)

Lily!

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Dipping my toes into OS/2 programming!
« on: March 03, 2026, 09:43:05 pm »
Hiya everyone!!  :D

I'm considering writing some code for OS/2, which is a relatively unfamiliar platform for me. I had some pretty basic questions that I had a surprisingly hard time answering - or maybe I'm just bad at searching!

  • What's the compiler story? From what I understand, it seems common to use a semi-modern GCC alongside Watcom for resource compiling?
  • Is the preferred way to write native GUI apps via Presentation Manager APIs? Some of these look pretty intimidating from the books on Bitsavers!
  • Is there an OpenSSL port with headers, etc?

Thanks~!
« Last Edit: March 03, 2026, 09:46:58 pm by Lily! »

Martin Iturbide

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Re: Dipping my toes into OS/2 programming!
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2026, 02:34:18 am »
Hello Lily!, welcome to the forum.

I'm guessing that you have ArcaOS, right?

I think you first need to read this to understand the tools that we have:
https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/information-for-developers/

Our resource for development articles and API information is the EDM/2 wiki.
https://www.edm2.com/

Where to start depends on the goal of your project and your skill set.
a) If you want to go pure Presentation Manager (PM) you should use OpenWatcom (open source) and/or IBM OS/2 Developer’s Toolkit (OS2TK45) (Freeware) and/or IBM VisualAge C/C++ (Not freeware/Abandonware)
 
I did some experiment to compile old PM samples with gcc. I was told that OpenWatcom is better than gcc for pure PM apps, but it was just an experiment since with gcc it was very easy to install the environment with rpm/yum
-- https://github.com/orgs/OS2World/repositories?q=DEV-SAMPLES-PM

b) If you want to port things from the Linux word you can use "gcc" and some libraries like "Qt5" and SDL.

c) Do you want to create a WPS application.... prepare to suffer  ;D ;D
Maybe you should start with PM first and later learn about WPS.

d) If you want to develop drivers you require a different set of skills and tools like IBM Device Driver Kit for OS/2 (IBMDDK) and OpenWatcom.

So, there are several options according to the need. Just read and think about what you like to start with, and just ask away on this forum.

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Martin Iturbide
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Lily!

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Re: Dipping my toes into OS/2 programming!
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2026, 04:33:14 am »
Hello Lily!, welcome to the forum.

I'm guessing that you have ArcaOS, right?

I do!

Quote
I think you first need to read this to understand the tools that we have:
https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/information-for-developers/

Our resource for development articles and API information is the EDM/2 wiki.
https://www.edm2.com/

Where to start depends on the goal of your project and your skill set.
a) If you want to go pure Presentation Manager (PM) you should use OpenWatcom (open source) and/or IBM OS/2 Developer’s Toolkit (OS2TK45) (Freeware) and/or IBM VisualAge C/C++ (Not freeware/Abandonware)
 

Doesn't OpenWatcom mean using some seriously ancient C/C++ language standards? Any idea why it's preferred over gcc?

Quote
b) If you want to port things from the Linux word you can use "gcc" and some libraries like "Qt5" and SDL.

Nah, I want to learn to do it right!  :D

Quote
c) Do you want to create a WPS application.... prepare to suffer  ;D ;D
Maybe you should start with PM first and later learn about WPS.

So what's the actual difference here? My understanding was that WPS was just a shell on top of PM, like how in Windows, Explorer is a shell on top of GDI, but I'm getting the impression that's way off!

Quote
d) If you want to develop drivers you require a different set of skills and tools like IBM Device Driver Kit for OS/2 (IBMDDK) and OpenWatcom.

Scary. And tempting. Not for today, though.

Thank you so much for the reply!!

Dave Yeo

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Re: Dipping my toes into OS/2 programming!
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2026, 04:34:25 am »
Is there an OpenSSL port with headers, etc?

Code: [Select]
yum install openssl-develOr use ANPM to do the same.

Dave Yeo

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Re: Dipping my toes into OS/2 programming!
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2026, 04:57:19 am »

Doesn't OpenWatcom mean using some seriously ancient C/C++ language standards? Any idea why it's preferred over gcc?

While old, OW has things like a resource compiler and was more targeted to OS/2. It is also very stable. Documentation is better too. The toolkit also has a lot of documentation and OW can easily use the toolkit.
Though GCC can use some of the OW tools like the resource compiler and even often uses the same linker depending on flags.
OW also supports 16 bit programs, most important for device drivers.

Quote
b) If you want to port things from the Linux word you can use "gcc" and some libraries like "Qt5" and SDL.

Nah, I want to learn to do it right!  :D

Quote
c) Do you want to create a WPS application.... prepare to suffer  ;D ;D
Maybe you should start with PM first and later learn about WPS.
Quote
So what's the actual difference here? My understanding was that WPS was just a shell on top of PM, like how in Windows, Explorer is a shell on top of GDI, but I'm getting the impression that's way off!

Well, while the WPS is just a shell on top of the PM, it is also fully object orientated, eg the Desktop is descended from the folder class, so is basically a folder. Also the media player in AOS (music mostly) is also based on the folder class, a folder with music widgets. You can also use most any language to write for the WPS, rather then being stuck with C++, through idl's and the SOM compiler.
Basically, Explorer is just a really bad copy of the WPS.

Martin Iturbide

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Re: Dipping my toes into OS/2 programming!
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2026, 02:25:55 pm »
Hi again
  • .... Some of these look pretty intimidating from the books on Bitsavers!
Just in case here we have a list of OS/2 Development book, I guess it will be better to start with the newer ones.
-- https://www.edm2.com/index.php/List_of_OS/2_Software_Development_Related_Books

Regards[/list]
Martin Iturbide
OS2World NewsMaster
... just share the dream.