Differences

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--- sd-8516_stellar_basic_v1.0 [2026/01/09 03:08] – appledog
+++ sd-8516_stellar_basic_v1.0 [2026/01/10 02:02] (current) – appledog
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 * Line-numbered programs
 * ''LET'' (often optional)
-* `PRINT`
+* ''PRINT''
-* `INPUT`
+* ''INPUT''
-* `IF … THEN`
+* ''IF-THEN''
-* `GOTO`
+* ''GOTO''
-* `GOSUB` / `RETURN`
+* ''GOSUB'' and ''RETURN''
-* `FOR` / `NEXT`
+* ''FOR-NEXT''
-* Integer arithmetic only (usually 16-bit)
+* Usually only access to integer variables and integer based math
-* Single-letter variables (`A`–`Z`)
+* Single letter variables (ex. ''A'', ''B'', ''Z'')
-### What’s usually removed
 * No floating-point math
-* No strings (or very limited strings)
+* Very limited strings
-* No arrays (or extremely small ones)
+* No arrays
 * No file I/O
 * Minimal error messages
 * Very limited editing commands
-Some versions didn’t even store source code text—only tokenized forms.
+Some versions stored programs as text, some as tokenized program code to save space.
----
+== Example BASIC program
-## Size
+<Code:Basic>
-Typical Tiny BASIC interpreters:
-* **1–4 KB total**
-* Some famous versions were under **2 KB**
-* A few extreme versions fit in **less than 1 KB**
-This was achieved through:
-* Hand-written assembly
-* Tokenization
-* Shared code paths
-* Aggressive simplification of syntax
----
-## Example: Tiny BASIC program
-```basic
 LET A = 1
 PRINT A
@@ Line 56: / Line 35: @@
 IF A <= 10 THEN GOTO 20
 END
-```
+</Code>
-Many Tiny BASICs would allow this even shorter form:
+Stellar BASIC will allow this even shorter form:
-```basic
+<Code:Basic>
 A=1
 ?A
 A=A+1
 IF A<=10 GOTO 20
-```
+</Code>
-(`?` was often shorthand for `PRINT`.)
+(''?'' is shorthand for ''PRINT''.)
----
+== More Information
+Notable Tiny BASIC implementations
-## Notable Tiny BASIC implementations
 * **Palo Alto Tiny BASIC** (Dennis Allison)
@@ Line 79: / Line 57: @@
 * **Apple I BASIC** (inspired by Tiny BASIC ideas)
 * **Micro-Soft 8080 BASIC** (larger, but influenced by Tiny BASIC work)
-Each one differed slightly, but all followed the “tiny, usable, interactive” idea.
----
-## Why Tiny BASIC matters
-Tiny BASIC is important because it:
-* Made programming accessible on the *cheapest possible hardware*
-* Helped bootstrap the early microcomputer software ecosystem
-* Demonstrated how interpreters could be **designed under extreme constraints**
-* Influenced later minimal languages and embedded scripting systems
-It’s often cited as an early example of **open, shared language design**, since many implementations were published openly in magazines.
----
-## In one sentence
-> **Tiny BASIC is a deliberately minimal BASIC interpreter, typically fitting in a few kilobytes, designed to make interactive programming possible on the earliest and most constrained microcomputers.**
-If you’d like, I can:
-* Show a **formal Tiny BASIC grammar**
-* Compare Tiny BASIC vs Microsoft BASIC
-* Explain how a Tiny BASIC interpreter works internally
-* Show how to write your own Tiny BASIC in C or assembly