Questions tagged [basic]
BASIC: a high-level programming language favored in retro systems. For dialect-specific questions, use a tag such as [microsoft-basic], [applesoft-basic], etc.
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Simulate Repeat/Until in BASIC, and on a single line?
Is there a way to simulate a Repeat/Until loop in a BASIC language without it, and without using a GOTO statement?
For BASIC languages with command separators, can this be done on a single line ...
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How to use BASIC after "LOAD "$",8 on the C64
After loading a file list from a floppy disk it is hard to program in BASIC because the file list is interpreted as BASIC lines.
For example there can be 20 lines with the number 1, because 20 files ...
user6734
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Why does the C64's LIST command choke on REM statements with a Shift+L?
On the Commodore 64 and VIC-20, the LIST command will abort with a ?SYNTAX ERROR on any line that contains a REM statement with a Shift+L character. A minimal program triggering the error would look ...
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How did Commodore's anti-Microsoft Easter Egg work?
A couple years ago the Toronto PET Users Group published an article (The Great Commodore/Microsoft Easter Egg War, on p. 7) about a newly discovered anti-Microsoft Easter Egg that Commodore hid in the ...
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Looking for a specific BASIC music program from the 80s
When I was a kid, we had a PC-XT with a lot of GW-Basic programs on it. I am trying to track down one in particular -- it was a music player of sorts. A menu (all monochrome text as I recall) and you ...
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Was the first ARM "processor" a BBC BASIC program?
The best background I have found so far on the early development of the ARM processor at Acorn comes from this interview with Steve Furber.
The interview does not mention the development of the first ...
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What "Write your own RPG/Adventure game" books were available for 8-bit computers? [closed]
During the 70s and 80s there were a number of books about how to write your own games for 8-bit computers, usually in BASIC. Three examples of these books are How to Create Adventure Games by ...
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What implementations of BASIC had a robust flood fill operator?
When I learned BASIC on Elektronika BK, I got fascinated with the flood fill (PAINT) operator: how does it know to get to all nooks and crannies of the shape to fill? I've devised an algorithm, tried ...
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cbm prg studio for the Amstrad
CBM prg studio is brilliant.
I have searched Google for a version (or something similar) for the Amstrad CPC 464, to no avail.
Does anyone know of one?
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What computer system is this from 1984 Doctor Who?
In the 1980s, the popular BBC science fiction series Doctor Who used some real computer system(s) to display impressive (for the time, OK, maybe not!) graphics. They actually ran the software real-...
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Can a USR command damage a ZX Spectrum?
I recently came across this magazine snippet; specifically this section:
Aprovechamos para avisar a los usuarios del Inves, que nos ha Ilegado el rumor de que haciendo:
BORDER 5
RANDOMIZE USR 4665
...
- 18.5k
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Can a PET 2001 be physically damaged from BASIC?
In the early 1980s my primary school was the proud owner of a Commodore PET 2001.
There was a commonly held belief among the young geek fraternity that there existed a BASIC command—perhaps a ...
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MSX Assembly/Basic programming documentation
I'd like to try to create software (and maybe simple games) for the MSX standard.
I know I have two ways to do so, either I use MSX Basic or Z80 assembly. I think that Z80 assembly is more powerful ...
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What is the format of the syntax tables in Apple II Integer BASIC?
In Paul Santa-Maria's disassembly of Integer BASIC (text version), you can see the syntax table split into two parts, SYNTABL and SYNTABL2. I've seen references to the tokens being stored in reverse ...
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Is it possible to crash the Apple II using only the Apple II Basic REPL?
Prerequisites:
1) Apple II
2) Basic Prompt
Using only the instructions provided, can you crash the Apple II?
I'm curious if this is even possible because I have only ever programmed the ...
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In search of.... SeaWar -- NOT Battleship!
Hopefully, sufficient background
Many years ago (40-45), I used to play "Sea War" on a good sized time-share system. It was a text/adventure war game between a couple remote players, played over a ...
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Did the LET statement actually do anything in 8-bit Microsoft BASICs?
I know the LET statement was available in AppleSoft and other Microsoft 8-bit BASICs back in the day, but I can't think of a time where I actually used it. Frankly, I get the impression that it was ...
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How to use virtual cassettes with Matthew Reed's TRS-80 Model III emulator? (TRS32)
I'm fooling around with Matthew Reed's TRS-80 Model 1/III/4 emulator for Windows (TRS32) and am have trouble using virtual cassettes. I am using it to emulate a Model III with Level II BASIC.
I have ...
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Why were early versions of BASIC different?
Most major computer manufacturers/distributors in the 70's and 80's included BASIC with their computers. Some (as answers to this great question have detailed: Why was BASIC built into so many ...
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Why was BASIC built into so many operating systems?
There are a lot of retro-computers with BASIC as an integral part of the operating system. The IBM 5100 was one of the first computers with a separate memory space for BASIC, followed by the Commodore ...
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