8 Bit Basic

[V-Cool]

Hey all, I'm looking to do some simple basic programming on my 800XL.  To start, should I make sure I have Rev C and just use the Atari basic or should I find one of the newer basics to learn on?  And, with the new ones, I assume I can use the old Atari Basic books to start the learning?

 

thanks

[Bee]

for me, I'd start with the built in basic.  I moved to Basic XE on an XE.  This has covered all the things I have needed to do.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Thank you

Edited March 31, 2022 by Bee

[+Larry]

I think your plan is good.  Start with Rev C, then easily move on to Altirra (latest is 1.58, IIRC) or Turbo Basic, or Basic XL or Basic XE, depending on your hardware.  I've always been partial to the OSS products, but others are great, also.  With Atari hardware, you get so many good Basics to choose from! I'm also partial to Your Atari Computer as a wonderful general reference.  I made mine into a spiral-bound book, because the pages were falling out from years of use. Good luck on your journey!

[+Philsan]

Point 6, you'll find some infos:

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/176545-topic-for-newbies-or-veterans-returning-to-atari/

 

I would start with Atari Basic or Turbo-Basic XL, compatibile but with new commands and faster.

If you want a better speed I would use the modern FastBasic.

[TGB1718]

5 hours ago, Bee said:

for me, I'd start with the built in basic.  I moved to Basic XE on an XE.

For the extra functionality in BASIC XE you need the extensions disk in at run time, I must

admit I do prefer BASIC XE these days.

[V-Cool]

1 hour ago, TGB1718 said:

For the extra functionality in BASIC XE you need the extensions disk in at run time, I must

admit I do prefer BASIC XE these days.

Sorry, can you explain what you mean by the extensions disk?  

[danwinslow]

Why start with Rev C.? I don't get the advantage. If you are going to wind up on a much more capable basic, why not start there?

[TGB1718]

9 minutes ago, V-Cool said:

Sorry, can you explain what you mean by the extensions disk?

The extra functions available in BASIC XE are loaded off a disk:-

 

For example Support for Player/Missile graphics, renumber, directory etc.

Just lots of nice things missing from Atari BASIC

 

Without using the extensions, it's fully compatible with Atari BASIC.

 

[V-Cool]

Just found out that I have Rev B.  So, sounds like I would be better off to download Turbo Basic or one of the other newer ones for free and I can still use any of the old Atari Basic books to learn on plus add in the Turbo Basic manual for it's extra commands and be in good shape.  

 

I like the idea of upgrading my Rom to Rev C but it doesn't look like those are for sale anywhere and the cartridge looks like it is about $20-30.  

 

Anyone have any other thoughts?

[zzip]

I always liked Turbo Basic XL-   It's fully backwards-compatible with Atari Basic, but runs something like 3x faster.   Also has a compiler that can make your program run even faster

 

Plus it adds a bunch of new convenient commands if you want to go beyond what Atari Basic brings.

 

And on top of all that, it gives you more free memory to work with than Atari Basic.

[+Larry]

23 hours ago, V-Cool said:

Just found out that I have Rev B.  So, sounds like I would be better off to download Turbo Basic or one of the other newer ones for free and I can still use any of the old Atari Basic books to learn on plus add in the Turbo Basic manual for it's extra commands and be in good shape.  

 

I like the idea of upgrading my Rom to Rev C but it doesn't look like those are for sale anywhere and the cartridge looks like it is about $20-30.  

 

Anyone have any other thoughts?

Do you have a multi-cart?  They are nice to have and a cheap way to get Rev C or others.  Best IMO is the Avg Cart if still available.

[+bf2k+]

I prefer Atari Basic C and then compile my programs using the MMG compiler for speed.

[+slx]

On 3/31/2022 at 3:27 PM, zzip said:

I always liked Turbo Basic XL-   It's fully backwards-compatible with Atari Basic, but runs something like 3x faster.   Also has a compiler that can make your program run even faster

 

Plus it adds a bunch of new convenient commands if you want to go beyond what Atari Basic brings.

 

And on top of all that, it gives you more free memory to work with than Atari Basic.

BASIC XE has Player/Missile-commands that are easier for beginners but Turbo BASIC XL is way faster if you're willing to roll the P/M stuff yourself. 

[zzip]

On 4/23/2022 at 12:45 PM, slx said:

BASIC XE has Player/Missile-commands that are easier for beginners but Turbo BASIC XL is way faster if you're willing to roll the P/M stuff yourself. 

True,  but it does have "MOVE" commands to move a block of memory which can help with vertical positioning of P/M graphics.    Better than using a slow BASIC loop to do the same.

[+slx]

On 4/25/2022 at 8:47 PM, zzip said:

True,  but it does have "MOVE" commands to move a block of memory which can help with vertical positioning of P/M graphics.    Better than using a slow BASIC loop to do the same.

True. The only real advantage for BASIC XE‘s built-in commands would be for 10-liners where they take up less space than a couple of POKEs. It‘s a shame it doesn’t have functions. 

[TGB1718]

On 4/27/2022 at 10:01 PM, slx said:

It‘s a shame it doesn’t have functions. 

It has Procedures that can take parameters:= Functions

[+slx]

4 hours ago, TGB1718 said:

It has Procedures that can take parameters:= Functions

Are you sure about the parameters in Turbo BASIC XL? The program reference I found online describes PROC more like a GOSUB to a label and makes no mention of parameters. 
 

http://ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/collections/Atari books/Turbo-BASIC XL - Expanded Documentation.pdf

[zzip]

5 hours ago, TGB1718 said:

It has Procedures that can take parameters:= Functions

A function is a procedure that returns a value.

 

x=myfunction(4, 5)  vs  myprocedure(4,5)

 

In a lot of languages there is no real distinction.

[TGB1718]

1 hour ago, slx said:

Are you sure about the parameters in Turbo BASIC XL? The program reference I found online describes PROC more like a GOSUB to a label and makes no mention of parameters. 

I misunderstood your comment, I thought you were saying BASIC XE has no functions

[TGB1718]

18 minutes ago, zzip said:

A function is a procedure that returns a value.

 

x=myfunction(4, 5)  vs  myprocedure(4,5)

 

In a lot of languages there is no real distinction.

BASIC XE is one of those as it specifically uses the word PROCEDURE, but it can return a value

[+slx]

On 4/29/2022 at 4:49 PM, TGB1718 said:

I misunderstood your comment, I thought you were saying BASIC XE has no functions

Reading my original post what I wrote wasn't that clear to start with...

[rdefabri]

On 3/31/2022 at 3:02 AM, Philsan said:

Point 6, you'll find some infos:

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/176545-topic-for-newbies-or-veterans-returning-to-atari/

 

I would start with Atari Basic or Turbo-Basic XL, compatibile but with new commands and faster.

If you want a better speed I would use the modern FastBasic.

I'm on this path too, but I'm just going to re-learn Atari BASIC, then jump to FastBasic.  In actuality, I know Atari BASIC quite well, it's the more "advanced" (for me) stuff like PMG, DLIs, etc I need to brush up on.  The plan is to make some simple game, then see if I can convert it to FastBasic, and maybe even see if I can make it a 10-liner (although not sure or confident about that).