SuperBASIC: The Manual
()
About this ebook
Do you want to write BASIC programs for your Color Computer, but don’t want to deal with two-character variables and invisible (or non-existent) structure? Consider superBASIC. Use loops, multi-line if/else/endifs, include files, and more. You can even use command-line switches to target the same BASIC program for computers with different hardware.
Jerry Stratton
Jerry Stratton writes at Mimsy Were the Borogoves on politics, technology, and programming for all. He has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Cornell University and studied guitar at the Musicians Institute of Technology in Hollywood, California. He has appeared in at least one bad movie from the eighties and participated in at least one ill-fated pre-Internet hypermedia startup.
Read more from Jerry Stratton
42 Astoundingly Useful Scripts and Automations for the Macintosh Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dream of Poor Bazin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to SuperBASIC
Related ebooks
Learn Javascript In 1 Hour Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFour Programming Languages Creating a Complete Website Scraper Application Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJavaScript: Best Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComputer Programming The Doctrine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntroduction to PHP, Part 5, Second Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMission Ruby Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJavaScript: Best Practices to Programming Code with JavaScript: JavaScript Computer Programming, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBasic Language Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJavascript Concepts: 1St Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProgressive web app A Clear and Concise Reference Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInstant HTML5 Responsive Table Design How-to Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsResponsive Design High Performance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAjax in One Hour, For Beginners, Learn Coding Fast Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNW.js Essentials Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLearning CoreOS Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMicrosoft .NET Framework 4.5 Quickstart Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsjQuery: Novice to Ninja: Novice to Ninja Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5HTML Application Second Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDjango Admin Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeginning DotNetNuke Skinning and Design Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOData Programming Cookbook for .NET Developers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLearning PHP Data Objects Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wb Development full course : from zero to web hero Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsASP.NET 3.5 CMS Development Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntelliJ IDEA Essentials Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMission HTML Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeginning CSS: Cascading Style Sheets for Web Design Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Svelte: A Beginner's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Programming For You
Grokking Artificial Intelligence Algorithms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrokking Algorithms: An illustrated guide for programmers and other curious people Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Python Machine Learning By Example Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coding All-in-One For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Python: Learn Python in 24 Hours Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Python: For Beginners A Crash Course Guide To Learn Python in 1 Week Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Python Programming : How to Code Python Fast In Just 24 Hours With 7 Simple Steps Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn JavaScript in 24 Hours Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Learn to Code. Get a Job. The Ultimate Guide to Learning and Getting Hired as a Developer. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Algorithmic Trading: Build and deploy algorithmic trading systems and strategies using Python and advanced data analysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data With SQL Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SQL: For Beginners: Your Guide To Easily Learn SQL Programming in 7 Days Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Python Data Structures and Algorithms Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Python in 10 Minutes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beginning C++ Programming Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Python for Finance Cookbook: Over 50 recipes for applying modern Python libraries to financial data analysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTensorFlow in 1 Day: Make your own Neural Network Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mastering C# and .NET Framework Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Grokking Simplicity: Taming complex software with functional thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Narrative Design for Indies: Getting Started Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Microservices Architecture Handbook: Non-Programmer's Guide for Building Microservices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Python 3 Object-oriented Programming - Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for SuperBASIC
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
SuperBASIC - Jerry Stratton
SuperBASIC
Jerry Stratton
SuperBASIC
The Manual
For the TRS-80 Color Computer
©2020 Jerry Stratton
Published May 2020
ISBN 979-8-63-977180-4 (print)
ISBN 978-0-46-359456-8 (ePub)
hoboes.com/superbasic
SuperBASIC version 1.0.0
Today it seems like a kludge, but all technology looks inelegant 35 years later.
—Wayne Lorentz, This TRS-80Getting Started
Where?
Download superBASIC and its sample files at hoboes.com/superbasic.
Why?
SuperBASIC is a preprocessor for creating Extended Color BASIC code using lengthy variable names, loops, and if/else/endif blocks. It should also work with Color BASIC.
SuperBASIC is not meant to hide BASIC behind a modern wall. It is meant as a superstructure that enhances BASIC. I wrote it specifically for the TRS-80/Tandy Color Computer, though it may well work with other old-school Microsoft BASICs. It adds to and does not subtract from Extended Color BASIC, with the exception of line numbers. Because line numbers are generated by the program, you cannot use GOTO statements in your code. You must use superBASIC’s loops and other blocks, so that every GOTO is generated with the correct line number.
If you provide superBASIC with nothing more than normal BASIC, you will get exactly what you provided, with line numbers added:
INPUT WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
;A$
PRINT HELLO,
;A$
Run superBASIC on it:
superbasic hello.txt
10 INPUT WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
;A$
20 PRINT HELLO,
;A$
30 END
The real power of superBASIC, however, are its loops and readable variable names.
loop
loop
%key$=inkey$
endloop unless (%key$=)
print asc(%key$)
endloop
Run superBASIC on this, and it converts the two loops into standard old-school BASIC. The first loop is a single line looking at INKEY$ until the user presses a key. The second loop reruns the entire program after displaying the ASCII value of the keypress:
superbasic keyboard\ values.txt
10 KE$=INKEY$:IF KE$= THEN 10
20 PRINT ASC(KE$)
30 GOTO 10
40 END