BASIC Programming
Encyclopedia
BASIC Programming attempted to teach simple computer programming on the Atari 2600. It was released for the Atari 2600
console in 1979 and it was one of only a few non-gaming cartridges released by the company. This program allowed consumers to create some simple programs using its own unique programming language, which was superficially similar to dialects of BASIC
, but differed in many important aspects. The extremely small RAM
size of the Atari 2600, 128 bytes, severely restricted the possibilities of this cartridge for writing any programs.
The BASIC Programming display was divided into six regions:
Input was given through two Atari keyboard controllers, which came with special overlays to show how to type the different commands and letters. Programs were restricted only up to 64 characters in size and 9 lines of code and thereby severely limiting anything other than programs such as printing names or moving a block across the screen. The cartridge intended to teach programming using its keypad controllers, which was not really a suitable medium of input for programming. Users could disable all windows except Program and keep selecting "New Line" until over nine empty lines had been entered and thus their program could use 11 lines of code using this trick. Given these limitations, Basic Programming cartridge never took off and is considered to be a novel but a failed product.
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
console in 1979 and it was one of only a few non-gaming cartridges released by the company. This program allowed consumers to create some simple programs using its own unique programming language, which was superficially similar to dialects of BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
, but differed in many important aspects. The extremely small RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
size of the Atari 2600, 128 bytes, severely restricted the possibilities of this cartridge for writing any programs.
The BASIC Programming display was divided into six regions:
- Program where instructions are written (maximum of nine lines of code).
- StackCall stackIn computer science, a call stack is a stack data structure that stores information about the active subroutines of a computer program. This kind of stack is also known as an execution stack, control stack, run-time stack, or machine stack, and is often shortened to just "the stack"...
shows temporary results of what your program does. - VariablesVariable (programming)In computer programming, a variable is a symbolic name given to some known or unknown quantity or information, for the purpose of allowing the name to be used independently of the information it represents...
displays the values of any variables your program is using. - Output displays any output values your program is creating.
- Status displays the amount of available memory remaining
- Graphics contains two colored squares that can be manipulated by your program.
Input was given through two Atari keyboard controllers, which came with special overlays to show how to type the different commands and letters. Programs were restricted only up to 64 characters in size and 9 lines of code and thereby severely limiting anything other than programs such as printing names or moving a block across the screen. The cartridge intended to teach programming using its keypad controllers, which was not really a suitable medium of input for programming. Users could disable all windows except Program and keep selecting "New Line" until over nine empty lines had been entered and thus their program could use 11 lines of code using this trick. Given these limitations, Basic Programming cartridge never took off and is considered to be a novel but a failed product.
External links
- Basic Programming at AtariAgeAtariAgeAtari Age was a magazine distributed to Atari Club members from 1982 until 1984. It was published by The Atari Club Inc., a subsidiary of Atari, Inc.-History:...