Suggested hardware and tutorials for BASIC language?

[seastalker]

I've had a backburner hobby project on my mind for a while now: re-learning (well, closer to just LEARNING) how to program in BASIC.

I was raised on an Atari 800XL but my sibling was much better at actually writing software. We did type-in programs from magazines too. Knowing one can learn/run basic on a PC even, I still thought it may be more fun to get back into BASIC on a retro machine, or rather one in a MiSTer core.

Even attached to the Atari 8 bit line, that might be cloudy judgement. I do remember that the C64 may or may not have had more commands to work with, and perhaps a BBC Micro crowd might say their way is best.

Perhaps this space may be both a fun spot for newcomers to the basic language, as well as for those more experienced to discuss the various differences, likes and dislikes of the systems. Beyond the manuals and PDFs we can access for 8 bit machines, are there suggested tutorial videos for those that learn better this way?

Maybe some of you know various revisions to suggest skipping older versions (or RAM capabilities) that would otherwise be too frustrating? For example, even if there were or weren't fundamental differences to the set of commands one can use, perhaps an Atari 400 or Commodore Pet may make testing/running programs too slow to enjoy? There is even a modern 8 bit computer called the LM80C (could use some more software anyway):
https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 17#p475717

I'm sure there are even questions that newcomers don't even know to ask or consider when starting.

[Bas]

There's a bazillion BASIC dialects to choose from, that were included on many computers. The C64 that I grew up with doesn't exactly have the strongest version around (and I'm putting that mildly), but I can wholeheartedly recommend the C64 Programmers' Reference Guide as a manual. It documents programming for the machine quite well. I followed it along before I was 10 years old. Flying that sprite-balloon across the screen was a defining moment in what would become an IT-career.

When push really does come to shove, though, you transition to programming Assembly on an 8-bit micro.

[mdkoehn]

BBC Basic, on the BBC Micro and later Acorn machines, is regarded as one of the better 8-bit basics. It relies much less on PEEKing and POKEing, compared to Commodore basic.

R.T. Russell maintains many ports of BBC basic. Ports to modern platforms are available. https://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/index.html

[Chris23235]

The Atari Basic was quite good, much better then the C64 Basic where you had no graphics or sound commands. On the Atari you were able to utilise the graphic and sound capabilities of the computer from within the Basic in an acceptable speed.
If you are looking for good classic 8-Bit Basics the BBC Basic is the best structured you will find. For the Atari 8-Bit computers I would recommand Turbo Basic which was as the name suggests fast.
Probably the best experience when it comes to 8-Bit Basic dialects is the ZX Spectrum Next Basic. It is fast, easy to learn and very well structured.

[Bas]

Simon's BASIC on the C64 provided some much-needed improvement. But it's 3rd-party. If you're going for the 8-bit Commodore platform, the C128 has the much-improved version 7.0 on board.

[Malor]

There are a lot of BASIC dialects, so it's mostly a matter of what era you want to emulate.

If you want to run on an 8-bit machine, the BBC Micro has probably the best dialect, with a super-rich ROM with tons of callable services, and quite a number of graphics and sound-handling routines built right into BASIC, which is unlike most other dialects. It's also a very fast implementation. Between its 2MHz processor (twice the speed of most American 8-bits) and its extremely efficient programming, that dialect was noticeably faster than pretty much anything else in that timeframe. IIRC, it beat BASICA and GWBASIC on the PC up until the really fast 8088 and early 80286 chips shipped. Like all 8-bits, it's pretty limited in terms of the size of the programs you can write. (typically around 40K with most 8-bits, but it varies per core. 38911 bytes on the C64, for instance, which it tells you on every boot.) The Micro had the ability to do RAM pageswapping, however, and it's possible its BASIC could take some advantage of that for extra room, like the Commodore 128 did. I don't know if it actually does, I've never done meaningful programming on BBC BASIC.

That said, I don't think the BBC Micro core on the Mister is super featureful. I haven't used it much. I'm not sure how comfortable it would be for serious use.

If you want the best BASIC on the Mister, QuickBASIC on the AO486 core should be really good. (I haven't actually tried it, and the AO486 is kind of weird, so there could be compatibility problems.) It's a massive improvement over 8-bit BASICs, does away with line numbers, supports "structured programming" (calling functions and subroutines by name instead of GOTO and GOSUB to line numbers), offers local variables (variables per function/subroutine, which is a MASSIVE improvement over the all-global variables in most other BASICs), supports much bigger programs, and is an actual compiler. It generates DOS binaries, rather than interpreting them, so programs end up being a lot faster. It's a huge improvement over the version your brother was using, which might actually be a negative feature in your case.

If you want a BASIC that works on modern platforms. arguably QuickBASIC 64 might be the one you want; it has the old QuickBASIC DOS/text interface, but generates binaries that will directly run on modern computers. That project seems to have undergone a really acrimonious team split, however. IIUC, the original qb64.com was more or less taken over by some person that never really did any coding or contributed in any way. The actual team seems to have moved to qb64phoenix.com.

There's also Visual BASIC from Microsoft, which was intended as their successor to QuickBASIC. It's an interpreter instead of a compiler, is very complex, is designed for programming on Windows, and gets little use or attention anymore. I've never followed it closely. I'm pretty sure that's not what you'd want. But it is an option.

[desin24]

Don't forget the Sinclair QL and the Spectrum
both have Roms with Basic built in
for the QL look here
https://dilwyn.theqlforum.com/docs/eboo ... uction.htm
https://dilwyn.theqlforum.com/docs/eboo ... ywords.htm

[thorr]

I learned BASIC on the Apple II and loved it. I also learned GWBASIC on the PC XT, and QuickBASIC later. I also had Z-Basic on the Apple II which was absolutely stellar compared to the normal BASIC, and the code written for it could be reused on different computer types. If I had to pick one, I would probably use QuickBASIC because it has a bunch of great built-in capabilities and works on PC's. Also, at some point I would like to try Batari BASIC and try to make an Atari 2600 game. For a modern solution, try Visual BASIC.