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.
185 questions
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How compatible with AppleSoft BASIC was Coleco Adam SmartBASIC?
For several months in the late 1980s, I owned a Coleco Adam. During that time I tried programming a few things on the only language I had access to: SmartBASIC.
Having written thousands of lines of ...
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BASIC on PLATO?
I am not familiar with PLATO, so I may get this terminology wrong.
A user recently posted on Reddit that they are using BASIC on the Irata system, which I believe is a PLATO clone? That BASIC has a ...
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Function to return free memory in Sinclair ZX Spectrum BASIC?
Sinclair BASIC doesn't have a FRE() function, which on other systems typically returns the number of memory bytes currently unused by BASIC. I'm looking for a way to find that value.
The system ...
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Can you remove a variable in the 8-bit Microsoft BASICs?
For the 8-bit Microsoft derived BASIC interpreters (i.e. AppleSoft, Commodore, etc.) you define a variable by simply declaring it to have a value, e.g. A$ = "hello". When you no longer need ...
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BASIC on the Datapoint?
(cross-post) I’m transcribing (almost) every program from the People’s Computer Company magazines.
In V2N6, Greg Yob begins providing his listings in a new dialect. Previously he used HP TS-BASIC, and ...
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My TRS-80 CoCo (26-3004) displays only left half of game screen
Have looked online for answers and even asked r/trs80, but can't seem to figure this out. The computer cuts off the right half of the game being displayed.
It doesn't seem to be an issue with hardware ...
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What is the use of the variable `B%` in DONKEY.BAS written by Bill Gates?
DONKEY.BAS, a video game written in 1981, was developed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and early employee Neil Konzen.
We can experience the game here and view the source code of the game (only ...
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Which BASIC dialect first featured a single-character comment introducer?
Beside REM Extended BASIC uses the apostrophe for comments, what was the earliest reference?
TI Extended BASIC uses the exclamation mark, is there any standard?
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What are the minimum system requirements to run GW-BASIC?
In DOSBox 0.74, I can run GWBASIC.EXE without any problem (DOSBox reports 632 KB of free conventional memory). It is GW-BASIC's version 3.10 dated 01-07-1989 with filesize 72576 bytes. On screen it ...
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Searching for a QuickBasic 2.0 book (not 4.5)
I'm travelling now to 1986, and trying the 2.0 version of QuickBasic on a 80286, emulated in PCem. (DOS version 3.2)
So this question is not about QBASIC, but about QuickBasic.
All the books I find on ...
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Storing results in BASIC DATA statements
Back when I first started in the industry, my first job was processing royalty for an oil and gas company. They used TRS-80 model 1 computers using a BASIC interpreter. The programs were on floppy ...
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HP TSB program stored format
The internal representation for a HP TSB Access program is detailed in the 'Sources and Listings' Documentation ref 22687-90020. This describes (pages 5-28 & 5-29) how string variables, simple ...
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Synchronising FOR - NEXT routines in C64 basic [closed]
I am writing a program which has an ASCII background, animating character moving to random locations, and finally adding music
It's my first ever C64 attempt and I want to finish it in BASIC before ...
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Marvel Comics BASIC games from the 1980s?
When I was a young kid in the mid-1980s, I attended a computer camp intended to introduce kids to BASIC. One of the things we typically did was to transcribe BASIC programs from paper copies. I ...
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What does Spectrum BASIC have that ZX81 lacks?
The Sinclair ZX81 has 8K BASIC interpreter ROM; the Spectrum has 16K. What extra features does the Spectrum put in the extra 8K?
The most obvious thing is commands for color graphics, which are absent ...
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