Turbo-Basic XL is an advanced version of BASIC for the Atari 8-bit family

Atari 8-bit family

The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...

 of home computers. It is a compatible superset of the more common ATARI BASIC

Atari BASIC

Atari BASIC is a BASIC interpreter for the Atari 8-bit family of 6502-based home computers. The interpreter originally shipped on an 8 KB cartridge; on later XL/XE model computers it was built in, with an option to disable it, and started when the machines were booted with no other cartridges...

 whose most important feature is the vastly improved execution speed (X3 times faster). A Turbo-Basic XL compiler

Compiler

A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...

 was also made available that created binary executables, further speeding up program performance (X10 times faster than Atari Basic).
Turbo-Basic XL was developed by Frank Ostrowski

Frank Ostrowski

Frank Ostrowski is a German programmer.After his time with the German Federal Armed Forces, Frank Ostrowski was unemployed for three years. During this time, he developed Turbo-Basic XL for the Atari 8-bit family. It was published in the German language Happy Computer Magazine in December 1985...

 and published in the December 1985 issue of German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 computer magazine Happy Computer.

Among the extra features of Turbo-Basic XL, added to ATARI BASIC, are the following:

• enhanced sound and graphics
  ANTIC
  Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller is an early video system chip used in the Atari 8-bit family of microcomputers as well as the Atari 5200 in the 1980s. The chip was patented by Atari, Inc. in 1981...
  
   commands
• more flexible I/O
  Input/output
  In computing, input/output, or I/O, refers to the communication between an information processing system , and the outside world, possibly a human, or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals or data received by the system, and outputs are the signals or data sent from it...
  
   commands, including disk
  Floppy disk
  A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
  
   access
• structured programming
  Structured programming
  Structured programming is a programming paradigm aimed on improving the clarity, quality, and development time of a computer program by making extensive use of subroutines, block structures and for and while loops - in contrast to using simple tests and jumps such as the goto statement which could...
  
   constructs
• simple debugging
  Debugging
  Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware, thus making it behave as expected. Debugging tends to be harder when various subsystems are tightly coupled, as changes in one may cause bugs to emerge...
  
   facilities

External links

• Atari 8-bit pages – Scans of the Turbo-Basic XL listing and Turbo-Basic XL compiler listing from Happy Computer Magazine. Also lists the new commands added to the language.
• TurboTari – An extended BASIC emulator (based on Turbo-Basic XL) and 6502 emulator/Atari architecture emulator all in one. Currently unfinished.