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Geek Culture / Classic Basic Programming

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DeepBlue
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 04:40 Edited at: 10th Jul 2004 04:41
Firstly I'd like to added to the list of old people plz, who was around at the time

Quote: "Tatung Einstein.. I've met 2 people in my life who've even heard of it."


One of my friends won one of those in a competition when they were released, and yes it was superior to many other machines at the time, he couldn't find much to run on it though At least thats up your people who've heard of it to 3 lmao. For some crazy reason he then went and bought a (damn cant remember think it was an oric or something , was black & had tiny lozenge shapped metal keys), didn't find much that ran on that either.

The coder formerly known as Twynklet.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 04:51
Orik Excel? or something like that... may not've been Excel, god that's gonna bug me cause i know this.

Rob K
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 05:53
Quote: "As for the loading times, I had a disk drive so games loaded in about 15 seconds"


Git.


BlueGUI:Windows UI Plugin - All the power of the windows interface in your DBPro games.
Ian T
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 06:10
Exeat's not 12, he was kidding


Shooting for Eternium Man.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 06:15
pfft! we all know he's 12, and mildly dyslexic

Chris K
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 06:36
Why are you working on this when you're in the middle of making Deliverance?
Ian T
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 06:56 Edited at: 10th Jul 2004 06:57
ahem edit ahem

It's such a pain being mature


Shooting for Eternium Man.
zenassem
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 06:57 Edited at: 10th Jul 2004 07:13
Raven,

Very interesting project. (If you are seriously going to finsh it, which for now, I will assume that's your intentions)

I always enjoyed my Atari Basic and Comodore 64's Basic. I switched to exclusively using Commodore's Basic when I discovered Simon's Basic (an ehancement to 64 original basic).

Then "White Lightning" Basic lightning/white lightning From Oasis Software. (Which I still have in the original box) The manual was black ink on red paper to prevent photocopying the text. It won the Porgram of the Year (Utility) L.E.T. C.T.A. Awards Feb 1985.



A full java emulator of white lighning
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekplay.cgi?title=White+Lightning&pub=Oasis+Software&year=1984&id=0008967&game=/utils/WhiteLightning.tap.zip&emu=3

Main page & documentation:
[href]http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=^White+Lightning$&pub=^Oasis+Software$[/href]

The back of the box actually reads:
Quote: " Following the success of White Lightning on the Spectrum 48K and it's extensive use by commercial ame writers, we present White Lightning on the Commodore 64. All the features of the earlier are included, but full use has also been made of the Commodore's more powerful hardware.

> As well as full Fig Forth, White Lightning has more tha 100 additionsal sound and graphics commands. Basic text can be freely intermixed wit White Lightning
> Programs can be written in Lightning Integer Forth or, for the newcomers to the language, in BASIC/Lightning hybrids - no knowledge of machine code whatsoever is required.
> Interrupt driven routines. This means that any routine can be executed up to 60 times a second while the main program runs normally.
> Up to 255 software sorites with user selectable dimensions(up to 6 screens wide!) as well as Commodore's own hardware sprite.
> Software sprites acn be scrolled , spun, enlarged, mirrored and more.
> Completed White Lightning programs run independently of the package and you are fee to market them with no constraints or costs.
> A full sprite development package is also supplied complete with a library of predeifned characters ready for use in your own games.
> In addtion to this, a multi-tasking BASIC with all the White Lightning graphics commands is also supplied to help you experiment before writing your own White Lightning game. This is also availablle separately.
> A full demo and comprehensive manual make this without doubt the most powerful games writing system ever produced for the commodore 64."


All of this in 1984.

~zenassem


Karlos
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 07:37 Edited at: 10th Jul 2004 07:37
Quote: "Orik Excel? or something like that... may not've been Excel, god that's gonna bug me cause i know this.
"


thats a hoover (vacuum for our american friends)

http://www.vacuum-cleaners-ratings.net/oreck-vacuum-cleaner-ratings.htm



rated at 512 MegaBags

All Hail the Glory of the HypnoToad
XP Pro - Radeon 9000 Mobility- P4 3.0ish
Football management - Football Manager
zenassem
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 07:40 Edited at: 10th Jul 2004 07:40
Quote: "rated at 512 MegaBags"

lmao...


CattleRustler
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 08:20
lol, I have a Dyson


* DBP_NETLIB_v1.4.3 - July, 2004 * Click Logo
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 08:44
hahaa... i knew it sounded so damn familiar;
all those late nite infomercials in the background when i was working late; the dude like sits under bowling ball saying something like
"it's so powerful that i feel safe doing this"

i got a Dyson too but mostly cause i liked the snazzy blue colour, only time i use it though is when my lass is feeling tired and yells at me to do some housework (for once).

Maybe Twynk was thinking of the Orca?

DeepBlue
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 08:51
The closest I found was the 'Oric 1' but it was another friend who had that, either this other machine was very rare, or it only exists in my vivid & somewhat twisted imagination (which more likely)

The coder formerly known as Twynklet.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 09:40
or perhaps your getting the machines name very very confused with something else.
happens to me alot, i'll remember the name of one machine but have a picture in my head of something completely different.



found a pic of the dragon, exactly like the machine i *had* stored; but i'm still 90% positive that it was Texas Instraments.

Dave J
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 09:59
I might also add the site you got that image from claims that it was produced in Wales by Dragon Data.


Quote: "Oh, I'm sure you've posted your photo then. I may be getting you mixed up for megaton. Although I'm positive I've seen a photo.

But maybe I'm juts mad."


I think you are because I've never once posted a picture of myself on these forums... EVER!


"Computers are useless they can only give you answers."
empty
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 10:00 Edited at: 10th Jul 2004 10:14
So what about the upload?

And since you were so kind to point out my spelling mistakes (in the other thread):
It's Texas Instruments and their (and then there's grammar and style, but that's a different story)

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
Ian T
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 10:07
Raven pointing out spelling errors is really the pot calling the kettle black. I would root up all the errors in his posts in this thread, but it's not a big deal (he does it all the time) I suppose...


Shooting for Eternium Man.
BatVink
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Posted: 10th Jul 2004 20:31
Quote: "thats a hoover (vacuum for our american friends)"


No, it really is a vacuum, in original British English too. Hoover, Dyson, it's all a sign of marketing success when you call an item by a brand name.

I've got a fridge full of Sainsbury's, a shelf filled with Rockstar Norths, and a full complement of Everests in my house. Go on, work it out!

BatVink
http://biglaugh.co.uk/catalog AMD 3000+ Barton, 512Mb Ram, 120 Gig Drive space, GeForce 5200 FX 128 Mb, Asus A7N8X Mobo.
Terms & Conditions apply
Kevin Picone
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 03:19 Edited at: 11th Aug 2010 23:25
Zenassem:

I remember White Lightning also, ended up being talked into buying Machine Lightning (on c64) for some reason. But that was too slow for making anything remotely interesting. Damn the manual was hard on the eyes..



Raven:

Questions.

Why write the documentation first.. ?

Why on earth use "div" for division.. result = a div b div c... A tad clumsey and error prone (missing spaces) to don't you think

Are you on our mailing list ??

Ian T
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 03:48
Quote: "No, it really is a vacuum, in original British English too. Hoover, Dyson, it's all a sign of marketing success when you call an item by a brand name."


Agreed. I think it's pretty sad using brand names for things personally , though I suppose it's not Gen Y's fault...


Shooting for Eternium Man.
Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 04:12
Using brand names is stupid!!!

Imagine if one day they say that something that is damaged beyond repair, completely defunct, broken, or useless is .......


Blitzed!

Shadow Robert
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 09:11
Kevin, i'm writing the manual now to explain howto use the language; because it's not something you can simply pickup'and'play after being spoilt by all the other basics around now.

A good example is your pickup of the DIV command.
the '/' devides using an additional calculation to calculate the floating point remainder, this takes alot of speed. Although modern processors probably won't blink doing it now, it would mean alot of speed in a larger project where you use it alot.
That and i've not limited this to Pentium Processor, it'll run happily on 386 Processors. Where instructions weren't a dime-a-dozen and one a few of them actually had Floating Point units.

As i'm at like a few instructions / hour writing them out in the manual (and finally testing them) this is taking alot longer to produce.
Especially as i'm sitting in Irc getting distracted hehe

Not sure if i'm on the mailing list, you could check. Normally i tick no on those boxes when they ask me to subscribe to something. Too much junk mail.

empty
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 09:46
Quote: "Not sure if i'm on the mailing list, you could check. Normally i tick no on those boxes when they ask me to subscribe to something. Too much junk mail."

If you're not on the mailing list, how could you have used Play Basic "quite extensively the past few weeks"?

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
Rob K
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 09:58
Quote: "A good example is your pickup of the DIV command.
the '/' devides using an additional calculation to calculate the floating point remainder, this takes alot of speed. Although modern processors probably won't blink doing it now, it would mean alot of speed in a larger project where you use it alot."


Under DBPro, the / sign does integer division if both operands are integers, and only does floating point division if one or both operands are floats. Why would there by any need for seperate "div" and "/" commands? Besides, I thought that in BASIC only "/" was used for division.

Quote: "That and i've not limited this to Pentium Processor, it'll run happily on 386 Processors."


Why? Nobody uses PCs with 386 processors anymore (or at least very, very few people).


BlueGUI:Windows UI Plugin - All the power of the windows interface in your DBPro games.
empty
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 10:02
Well VB uses \ for integer divisions IIRC.

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
Rob K
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 10:27
True, but VB is not BASIC, its a Microsoft interpretation of BASIC. This "idea" is about "Classic" BASIC.


BlueGUI:Windows UI Plugin - All the power of the windows interface in your DBPro games.
Ian T
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 10:33
Perhaps because true olbdies keep 384s in their basement . I don't-- they run my most beloved oldgame (Daggerfall) like crap


Shooting for Eternium Man.
empty
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 10:33 Edited at: 11th Jul 2004 10:34
Quote: " True, but VB is not BASIC, its a Microsoft interpretation of BASIC. This "idea" is about "Classic" BASIC."

Agreed.

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
zenassem
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 10:43 Edited at: 11th Jul 2004 10:44
@rob K,
That would require operator overloading, which wasn't used as extensively probably during the time of the language Raven is building on. I believe raven is trying to emulate the language exactly the way it was. I'm not sure though, because I have never used it. The first basic I used was on the commodore Pet, but I don't remeber much about it. Atari basic, definately used "/" and had a math coprocessor at least on the 65XE - again not sure on the 400 or 600xl. I'm also not sure if it always provide floating point results. I'll have to fire it up and check.


So to sum it up "I'm not really sure!"
~zen


empty
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 10:52
There were no explicit integer variables in Atari Basic. Just string and numeric ones.

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
zenassem
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 10:59
Yup! The other hassle with Atari Basic was every variable had to be dimmensioned before using it. And the namespace was fairly limited. What a pain in the arse. Line number's were also a killer, that is until I found a assembly routine that would do automatic numbering and allow you to reset numbering on the fly, (would even replace your goto linenumber commands) thanks to Compute! magazine. Simon's basic for the commodore provided the same handy features.

Ah Nostalgia.....

~zen


empty
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 11:22
Quote: "The other hassle with Atari Basic was every variable had to be dimmensioned before using it."

Oh yes, I remember that.

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
DeepBlue
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 11:33 Edited at: 12th Jul 2004 16:07
Decided to have a dig around the net to see if I could find the original specification for the first BASIC. Now known as Dartmouth BASIC the original spec is as follows:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_BASIC
Almost the same but seems to have some more operators
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Dartmouth%20BASIC%20programming%20language/

Bah can't find a link to ANSI BASIC on the web, guess you have to buy it from ANSI.

The coder formerly known as Twynklet.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 13:31
i'm gonna try to get the ASM working before work, probably end up working on it after.

(AcornASM has different registers so assigning them isn't as simply and straight forward as assigning the BASIC structure...

A - Accumulator (4bit).......}
X,Y - Index Registers (40bit)} these can be access per bit
M - Memory Registers (32bit) }
SP - Stack Pointer
PC - Program Counter (32bit) (split into 2 bit)
F - Flag Register (8bit) {N, V, B, D, I, Z, C can't remember what they mean right now}

so i've gotta remember a few things and then sort out how they work again.

This ties into 'Why not do Type Casting with Division' ... the reason as I said before this language was create pre-maths coprocessors, which means to make it authentic; the functionality I use shouldn't either.

apart from this the Std Acorn type is a Real Number, you have to physically cast it as a String or Integer yourself.
Real Numbers use the XY registers; Integers/Strings use the Memory Registers, this makes them much faster.
This is still true today really.

Kevin Picone
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 13:54
Quote: "Kevin, i'm writing the manual now to explain howto use the language; because it's not something you can simply pickup'and'play after being spoilt by all the other basics around now."


So your writing the documentation for a tool that doesn't exist yet ?. Seems a tad backwards to me, but whatever floats your boat.

Quote: "A good example is your pickup of the DIV command.
the '/' devides using an additional calculation to calculate the floating point remainder, this takes alot of speed. Although modern processors probably won't blink doing it now, it would mean alot of speed in a larger project where you use it alot.
That and i've not limited this to Pentium Processor, it'll run happily on 386 Processors. Where instructions weren't a dime-a-dozen and one a few of them actually had Floating Point units.
"


erm, I know, most assemblers/enviroments come with math libraries with and without FPU support. So it's not a huge deal. I think it's fairly pointless however to target a 386 system without an FPU. Might as well generate real mode code the 186/286 as well.

So functionally the '/' performs a float divide and the "div' operator the integer divide. I don't see why you don't cast the function based upon the parameters. ie. R= A/B if A+B are int, then the divide is and result are integer. If either A/B are float then the int is cast to float and a floating point divider performed.

Quote: "Not sure if i'm on the mailing list, you could check. Normally i tick no on those boxes when they ask me to subscribe to something. Too much junk mail."


While your visible email here isn't listed, (could be another email though), if not, it begs the question, how could your previous statement be possible... I'm curious as to what version you've been using _extensively_ ...

Kevin Picone
[url]www.underwaredesign.com[/url]
Play Nice! Play Basic (Out Now!)
DeepBlue
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 14:31 Edited at: 11th Jul 2004 14:50
@uw

Hey can see the new IDE now, very nice. I read through the docs etc & decided you BASIC implementation is so nice I'm even going to download it & give it a try

[Edit] OK downloaded it, I'll give it a go later all looks very professional so far [Edit]

[Edit] Can you please let Chris know that I'm totally addicted to Bathteroids, that is one superb little game [Edit]


DeepBlue

The coder formerly known as Twynklet.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 11th Jul 2004 16:08
Quote: "So your writing the documentation for a tool that doesn't exist yet ?. Seems a tad backwards to me, but whatever floats your boat."


what fudged up universe do you come from... i quite clearly wrote, i have the tool but ZERO documentation.
Unless you just so happen to remember BBC/Acorn BASIC in/out from memory after what, 15-20 years your not going to be able to use it without having a help file sitting there for you to tell you what functions are and the basics. Now are you?

Quote: "erm, I know, most assemblers/enviroments come with math libraries with and without FPU support. So it's not a huge deal. I think it's fairly pointless however to target a 386 system without an FPU. Might as well generate real mode code the 186/286 as well."


depends what you consider pointless; i'm not doing this to make money or anything, i'm doing this for other people who love the old BASICS; although I could use standard ASM libraries for everything, for the compiler i'm not doing so... for the Interpreter I did; but I still strictly used the fnuctions for each of thier respecting things; this is for AUTHENTICITY not practical useage.
I'm recreate the language, not making a new one based on it.

Something I believe I have said a good 6-7x now.

Quote: "While your visible email here isn't listed, (could be another email though), if not, it begs the question, how could your previous statement be possible... I'm curious as to what version you've been using _extensively_ ..."


Visible Email is used for backup when my normal email goes down, as it is here for spammers and such. Got sick and tired of having to week spam email from real email daily.

empty
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Posted: 12th Jul 2004 03:59
Still two questions remain:
1) What Play Basic version have you been using?
2) From where did you get it?

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
Kevin Picone
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Posted: 12th Jul 2004 07:55 Edited at: 12th Jul 2004 08:02
Quote: "what fudged up universe do you come from..
"


It's called the real world, you might like to visit it sometime!..


Quote: ". i quite clearly wrote, i have the tool but ZERO documentation.
"


Clear, Well if you say so. Here's a an example.

Quote: " I had a simple PureBASIC Interpreter working Sunday, it converted instructions to ASM realtime; only did a few of the commands like the basic syntax + dot and input. But the framework was solid enough for 8hrs work total.
"


However, these aspects don't even rate a mention in your so called documentation later on. Which obviously attempts to document aspects of the language that _your_ (cough) edition isn't/wasn't capable of..


Quote: "Unless you just so happen to remember BBC/Acorn BASIC in/out from memory after what, 15-20 years your not going to be able to use it without having a help file sitting there for you to tell you what functions are and the basics. Now are you?
"


So your saying there's no pre-existing information on the web covering Acorn Basic ?.. I think not... Since your shooting for a 'clone', that'd be just as good a source of info as any..

You've still yet to clearly show us, just what 8bit machine your apparently referring too ?..

I assume it's this thing ? Acorn Electron

http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/electron/
http://www.markrandall.com/pages/Museum/Computers/Acorn%20Electron.htm

or one of these...Atom, BBC, BBC master, or the electron again

http://www.markrandall.com/pages/Museum/Computers/Acorn%20Electron.htm


Quote: "depends what you consider pointless; i'm not doing this to make money or anything, i'm doing this for other people who love the old BASICS; although I could use standard ASM libraries for everything, for the compiler i'm not doing so... for the Interpreter I did; but I still strictly used the fnuctions for each of thier respecting things; this is for AUTHENTICITY not practical useage.
I'm recreate the language, not making a new one based on it.

"


You can recreate the language in anything, my point is that targeting a CPU that makes more work/bloat than is necessary, is pointless at this time.

Although obviously from the above statement, you've already written your own 40bit float FPU emulations operations right ?..


Quote: "Something I believe I have said a good 6-7x now.
"


ouch, burn.. That coming from you is hilarious.. So far we have some incoherent, inconsistent picture of what exits, what it is , and what it actually does.

I.e.

* What system are you actually talking about.???

* Acorn ASM .. What CPU is the assembler for ?. Since acorn basic had inline assembly, i'm assuming your referring to the that.

* If your referring to any of the 4 Acorn machines above.. Mind explaining to us how an 8bit 6502 suddenly has opcode support 40bit floats?.

* since when is the 6502 part of the x86 family ?..


Quote: "Visible Email is used for backup when my normal email goes down, as it is here for spammers and such. Got sick and tired of having to week spam email from real email daily.
"


Wonderful, Now to be equally melodramatic. You know that's the 3 or 4 time we've asked for you validate your previous claim of having 'extensively' used PB over recent weeks.. Obviously by your continued avoidance of the question, this was another distortion of the truth...

Kevin Picone
[url]www.underwaredesign.com[/url]
Play Nice! Play Basic (Out Now!)
Ian T
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Posted: 12th Jul 2004 08:21
Episode Two: The UW strikes bacl


Shooting for Eternium Man.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 12th Jul 2004 14:41
Quote: "You can recreate the language in anything, my point is that targeting a CPU that makes more work/bloat than is necessary, is pointless at this time.

Although obviously from the above statement, you've already written your own 40bit float FPU emulations operations right ?.."


It hardly made me have more work, using the Std ASM to achieve some things would've ment more work because it would've reproduced inaccurate results.

Also I guess it has escaped your notice which no doubt it actually has, but C-Caps the x86 Processor's Floating Point Unit to 4x 64bit Registers... the 5x86 itself actually has 4x 80bit Floating Point Registers, which most don't support using ASM math (Tasm which I was using with PureBasic only supports 32bit Floats)
(3x86/4x86 both have 2)

8086 and 286 in real-mode would = extra work because they don't operate the same as floating point.

Whilst although setting up the math for the 40bit Ops was necessary, it was also necessary for authentisity to make sure that it was within a 9-Digit Significant range.
This has nothing to do with adding more work for the sheer hell of it, and everything to do with making the language work EXACTLY how it should.
I could've set it up for std x86 asm, but then I would've had to hack it later when ppl sit there and bitch about the real numbers not working right; Sorry but to me it is far more important to have something working first time CORRECTLY rather than just working and available to ppl.

It is shoddy workmanship to release somethign you know damn well is buggy.

Quote: "* What system are you actually talking about.??? "

Acorn Electron 1982 Model

Quote: "* Acorn ASM .. What CPU is the assembler for ?. Since acorn basic had inline assembly, i'm assuming your referring to the that. "

6502A, Motorola 6800 Base ASM; but all of the major player register I did list above. Which can all be stripped and placed directly onto the x86 386+

*
Quote: " If your referring to any of the 4 Acorn machines above.. Mind explaining to us how an 8bit 6502 suddenly has opcode support 40bit floats?. "

What the hell do I look like to you, a technical engineer creating a language from backengineering the damn machines?
I'm going by exactly what my manual says...
It has 1x 80bit Real Number Register (Split Hi/Lo or X/Y)
It then has 8x 32bit Integer/Memory Registers

Quote: "* since when is the 6502 part of the x86 family ?.."

It's not but the design of the process is close enough to allow me to convert everything directly onto an X86 with identical results without a loss of speed, even if you decide to put your CPU down to the same 2MHz.

Quote: "Wonderful, Now to be equally melodramatic. You know that's the 3 or 4 time we've asked for you validate your previous claim of having 'extensively' used PB over recent weeks.. Obviously by your continued avoidance of the question, this was another distortion of the truth..."


Why does it matter, i'm not going to tell anyone my real email in forum; what the hell do you take me for a moron?
And I especially am not going to sit here and say what my email is because quite frankly I know that Empty is part of the dev team for PlayBasic and I don't want that jackass knowing my email.

Quite frankly tought titties.
I've been messing around with PlayBasic since 1.4-something, currently I believe I have the 2.0x build... i can't remember what one exactly.

Now if your all finished, either stay in this thread and help me plan for the compiler; Or get the hell out and leave me alone.
Quite frankly you guys obviously don't like me, and honestly I can't say I have a partifular affinity for any of your either; So either make yourselves useful or piss off and bother someone else.

I don't think it is unreasonable to accept some modicam of acceptable behaviour around here. Quite simply put, if you have nothing to actually add to this topic that is within reasonable conversation then don't post in it.

heartbone
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Posted: 12th Jul 2004 16:37
Quote: "Quote: "The other hassle with Atari Basic was every variable had to be dimmensioned before using it."
Oh yes, I remember that."

That's funny, I don't remember that at all.
In fact ATARI BASIC was kinda wierd in that if you mistyped a new variable into the program, it was remembered as a program variable and counted against the total number of variables available.

All in all ATARI BASIC was very, very powerful (for 1978-1979).

I wrote a screen dump program (YEMACYB) in ATARI BASIC that would dump a mode E screen (160x192) in about 7"x10" in 17 minutes printing time in full color (from a 128 color pallette) on any EPSON MX80 color printer. You could also use any EPSON FX, NEC or STAR SG-10 compatible for color if you changed your ribbons. Compare that to the "professional" OKIDATA OKIMATE software which came in at over 20 minutes for under half the printout size.

Peace, the anti-Bush.
Vindicate
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Posted: 12th Jul 2004 18:19
I have something to add:

Quote: "...the 5x86 itself actually has 4x 80bit Floating Point Registers..."


There are EIGHT floating point registers, st(0)-st(7).

Quote: "...which most don't support using ASM math... "


Numerous variations of your wording fails to produce any coherent meaning. Not the first time, either.

Quote: " What the hell do I look like to you...?"


You look like a clown. Stop pretending to know stuff you obviously don't.

Quote: " I don't think it is unreasonable to [expect] some modicam of acceptable behaviour"


So start behaving in an acceptable manner.
empty
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Location: 3 boats down from the candy
Posted: 12th Jul 2004 18:20
@heartbone
Re: Dim variables.
Quote: "That's funny, I don't remember that at all."

Yes you're right. Every string variable had to be dimmed.

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
empty
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Location: 3 boats down from the candy
Posted: 12th Jul 2004 18:23
@Raven
Quote: "I know that Empty is part of the dev team for PlayBasic and I don't want that [oops] knowing my email."

I don't want to know your email address, I want to know where you got Play Basic from.

Play Nice! Play Basic! Check it out. Now.
Kevin Picone
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Location: Australia
Posted: 13th Jul 2004 03:47 Edited at: 13th Jul 2004 05:43
Edited for clarity..

Quote: " Also I guess it has escaped your notice which no doubt it actually has, but C-Caps the x86 Processor's Floating Point Unit to 4x 64bit Registers... the 5x86 itself actually has 4x 80bit Floating Point Registers, which most don't support using ASM math ( Tasm which I was using with PureBasic only supports 32bit Floats)
(3x86/4x86 both have 2)
"


More techno smoke screen gibberish. But, Just for clarity sake, while the 387, 486, Pentium have 32/64 and 80bit floating point capability. Were talking about these 40bit FPU operations that you apparently require to retain authenticity. You simply don't need them.



Quote: "8086 and 286 in real-mode would = extra work because they don't operate the same as floating point."


Neither have a floating point unit. It wasn't integrated into the x86 chips until the 486 line. Before that the system needed a math coprocessor. i.e 8087,187,287,387


Quote: "AcornASM has different registers so assigning them isn't as simply and straight forward as assigning the BASIC structure...

A - Accumulator (4bit).......}
X,Y - Index Registers (40bit)} these can be access per bit
M - Memory Registers (32bit) }
SP - Stack Pointer
PC - Program Counter (32bit) (split into 2 bit)
F - Flag Register (8bit) {N, V, B, D, I, Z, C can't remember what they mean right now}
"


This completely bogus specification is nothing like the 6502, secondly the Electron doesn't appear to have a second 6800 (i assume you mean a 6809 derivative here) processor ?..

6502.. is 8bit, with 16bit address lines. Registers A ,X & Y .. it does not have floating point calculations period.

6809 is a hybrid evolution of the 6502, 16bit registers (A,X,Y), 16 bit address lines. It doesn't have float point support either.

Like many other users around here, I've spent a little under a decade programming these chips (vic20,bbc model b, c64,apple 2, c128.. and 6809 on the Tandy colour), thus statements like this, fail to make any cohesive sense....



Quote: " Whilst although setting up the math for the 40bit Ops was necessary, it was also necessary for authentisity to make sure that it was within a 9-Digit Significant range.
This has nothing to do with adding more work for the sheer hell of it, and everything to do with making the language work EXACTLY how it should.
I could've set it up for std x86 asm, but then I would've had to hack it later when ppl sit there and bitch about the real numbers not working right; Sorry but to me it is far more important to have something working first time CORRECTLY rather than just working and available to ppl.
"


Previously you said you wanted this to run on 386 processor. However, the 386 doesn't have FPU operations in it, it is purely integer. To do so, would require a 386 system with 387 math co processor installed. Or you'd have to roll your own FPU emulation as stated previous. (see bellow)


Quote: "It is shoddy workmanship to release somethign you know damn well is buggy."


You'd have to release something, it order for that to be a concern I would think.


Quote: " What the hell do I look like to you, a technical engineer creating a language from backengineering the damn machines?
I'm going by exactly what my manual says...
It has 1x 80bit Real Number Register (Split Hi/Lo or X/Y)
It then has 8x 32bit Integer/Memory Registers
"


More gibberish. See above. Hence, to restate my point. Floating point operations should be mapped on the cpu's FPU instructions. The internal accuracy of calculations isn't going to be relevant in order to compile probably 99.99% of existing acorn basic programs.

i.e
a=100/3
if a=33.33333
print " it's a third"
else
print "ouch, something is wrong "
endif


Quote: "6502A, Motorola 6800 Base ASM; but all of the major player register I did list above. Which can all be stripped and placed directly onto the x86 386+"


Previously, you stated the 6502 as a direct descendant of the x86. It is not. Moreover, In order to support Acorn basics inline assembly directives. You not only have to emulate the 6502's behavior, but the system architecture behind it. In order for it successfully execute anything but the simplest preexisting code. Since your after accuracy here, this is conceptually flawed from the get go.


Quote: "Why does it matter, i'm not going to tell anyone my real email in forum; what the hell do you take me for a moron?
And I especially am not going to sit here and say what my email is because quite frankly I know that Empty is part of the dev team for PlayBasic and I don't want that jackass knowing my email.
"


I'm the only person who has access to the Mailing List. Why does it matter?, the only legal access you could have had was via the mailing edition list a few weeks back. But now your claiming that you've apparently you've been accessing alpha's illegally 6/8 months ago... This, I will NOT stand for.


Quote: "Quite frankly tought titties.
I've been messing around with PlayBasic since 1.4-something, currently I believe I have the 2.0x build... i can't remember what one exactly.
"


Typical, rather than say, "oh i must have been mistaken", Your now going to sit there and continue lie to everybody (including the author of the language) ?. In order for such idiocy to be taken seriously, you'd have to prove this claim. You course you won't..

Send me the read me from any version between 1.40 to 2.06 then, or any file from it's installer for that matter.


Quote: "Now if your all finished, either stay in this thread and help me plan for the compiler; Or get the hell out and leave me alone.
Quite frankly you guys obviously don't like me, and honestly I can't say I have a partifular affinity for any of your either; So either make yourselves useful or piss off and bother someone else.
"


Oh please.. and who said I don't like you ?. Being a little paranoid aren't we. However like most people, I don't suffer liars or fools very well.


Quote: "
I don't think it is unreasonable to accept some modicam of acceptable behaviour around here. Quite simply put, if you have nothing to actually add to this topic that is within reasonable conversation then don't post in it.
"


It's long past time the point for you started growing up. I would thought, that as a self proclaimed professional developer, you'd be used to remaining objective. Hence, If you don't want your ideas subjected to public scrutiny, be that corrections, or whatever, then posting them in a public forum is probably not for you.

Kevin Picone
[url]www.underwaredesign.com[/url]
Play Nice! Play Basic (Out Now!)
Kevin Picone
22
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Posted: 14th Jul 2004 13:43
BBC basic for windows.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/

Kevin Picone
[url]www.underwaredesign.com[/url]
Play Nice! Play Basic (Out Now!)
Kevin Picone
22
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Location: Australia
Posted: 20th Jul 2004 00:26
Previously..

Raven talks the talk..

Quote: "What Kevin has in PlayBasic (and i have used it quite extensively the past few weeks), is alot of stuff which isn't nice to program; let alone try and interpret them realtime."


Etc etc.. But it doesn't stop there, as he then claims to have illegally accessed Play Basic beta's.. Openly admitting that he's either a Pirate, or a liar ?.

Quote: ""Quite frankly tought titties.
I've been messing around with PlayBasic since 1.4-something, currently I believe I have the 2.0x build... i can't remember what one exactly. "


So obviously, when confronted with a poser, you always request proof.. like I did here..

Quote: " Send me the read me from any version between 1.40 to 2.06 then, or any file from it's installer for that matter."



Response after a week ?..

Nothing.. No rely, no email, no response of any kind..


Conclusion:

Raven is either a really bad liar or a thief. There's no middle ground here.

Kevin Picone
[url]www.underwaredesign.com[/url]
Play Nice! Play Basic (Out Now!)
Kevin Picone
22
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Location: Australia
Posted: 1st Aug 2004 02:24
Well there you go.. After waiting/pressing for some type of response, but in typical Raven fashion, nothing, as when caught out in a lie he simply doesn't respond.

Somehow I fail to see how this wanna be sham artist, pretending to have industry associations, continues to be granted access here, or is it acceptable behavior for a member of the forums to apparently illegally access our products, then proceed to lie about doing so in public ?..

Kevin Picone
[url]www.underwaredesign.com[/url]
Play Nice! Play Basic (Out Now!)
Shadow Robert
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Location: Hertfordshire, England
Posted: 1st Aug 2004 05:45
I chose not to answer, I had been given the installer for PlayBasic a few weeks back; I know I have registered the current version available on your site.

If I am handed a copy of software, that to my knowlage was suppose to be free I simply assume that it is a download from the site.
As when I checked the site there was an updated version there, that confirms what I believe.

The only time I checked your site on the matter of the language was when you first started the idea.
Now if someone handed this to me when they weren't suppose to then I'd suggest you stricen either your ftp security measures or think more carefully before accepting people into your beta program.

This wouldn't be the first time I have been handed a beta product without my knowlage of what it actually is and I doubt it will be the last. Some people find the feedback I give on products extremely productive.

That said the language barely interests me, even after use. It is interesting but that as far as I'm conserned is as far as it goes.
It isn't something I'll ever purchase if it goes retail and it isn't something I'm particularly crazy about using.

I said the same thing to Sibley when gave me a copy of BlitzMax. It's a nice product but I don't really see me using it much.

If this was done without your conscent then fine, I'm sorry I have an aparent Beta. Didn't even say beta in the damn help and the site has it up for free, so god knows why you think i'm suppose to know.

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