OH MY GOD! I am planning to release a 30,000 line program on ticalc.org. It is written in TI-68k basic.
It includes totally unique programming concepts like expr within solve, and total equations so 3D figures can be calculated with a minimum of information. Unfortunately it is incomplete right now...

anyway...
I also hate ASM math programs. They suck. All of them. The math stuff is far easier to do in BASIC than in ASM or C, and when done very well, TI-BASIC (68k basic anyway) is much better than either of these languages, although with a lack of speed. Seems to me that this idea will discourage BASIC programmers, even very good ones.

Let me be as clear as possible. If this is done to ticalc.org, I will leave and not come back. So will most other people interested in math. Admittedly, we don't need quadratic equation solvers, but there are some really good programs out there. This idea will destroy the entire site. I am serious.

Of course, if this idea is only applied to TI-83/83+/84/84+ BASIC programs, that's fine since those programs suck. However, TI-68k basic math programs should and must be left alone.

People like you keep brain surgeons in business... For the last time, BASIC SUCKS!!!

The only use of BASIC is to make cheat sheets for math tests

That's not even using BASIC, it's just using the program editor to store and view text. :)

No, that's using a BASIC program to store string data, or a really long invalid command.

You just said the same thing he did yet argued his point. That doesn't make sense. IMO, if it's not BASIC programming, it's not BASIC. It's using the BASIC editor, yes, but it's just a bunch of garbage which isn't even remotely close to BASIC. Using your logic, if I opened JCreator and typed "asdlfkjsdlfkj" into the file and saved it, I'd be programming in Java just because I was in an Java IDE environment, right? That's obviously false, just as false as saying typing cheat notes into your calculator is BASIC, just because it's in a programming environment. It won't run, it's not even close to valid BASIC programming, therefore it is not BASIC.

That's why you should get a TI-89. You can make actual text files on your calculator. :-P

... And this is a completely pointless thread.

But it could easily be made a BASIC program if you put "Stop" on the first line before the text documents...

And hasn't anybody noticed that the "BASIC text editors" can't store more than like 12 or so chars because they use the command "Disp StringN"

If you're going to diss them, at least get your facts straight. The calculator's screen is wide enough for 16, count 'em, 16 large characters. Seesh.

Even if its 16chars long, the last one is somethimes replaced with an ellipse. And besides, I'm just trying to make a point

ok, then 15

fine... But I still have a point here don't I?
If the programmer used the command "Pause StringN", this wouldn't even be a problem would it???

"Pause String1" will enable the user to scroll the string until they press enter....

Yeah, pretty much. Only real use of basic I have seen is to make cheat sheets or do long equations that you are too lazy to type in everytime.

Basic does not suck. I know Java, Visual Basic, HTML, VBScript, TI-Basic, and I'm learning 83+ ASM. Basic can access any built in function on the calculator. You can create your own. You can make it automatic. You can use Apps to add functionality. You can package Basic as an app using *BASIC*Builder. Isn't it interesting that to package an ASM program with Basic builder you have to first create a Basic program to run it?
One last thing PCs suck worse than any other operating system including TI 83+ 1.1 OS. fyi, 68K calcs use the same processor as original Mac. Mac forever!!!

And the MC68000 was used in Commodore 64s, most Sega machines, and many cars. It's not just old Macs and TIs.

I definitely agree that there are many good BASIC programs (yes, even for the 83/84 series), but as I said before, don't take it so seriously! It's only a joke...

But you can not do EVERYTHING in BASIC like you can in Asm

Ok, I'm sorry and I know I'm probably sicking you on me, but let me get this straight: You think:
BASIC --> Better for Math
ASM --> Not as good for math???
Are you forgetting that the calculator IN THE FIRST PLACE is coded in ASM, so all you're basic 'math' functions are converted to ASM then executed?? It is definetly more difficult to make a good ASM math program, but they run much faster. Sure BASIC is easire, but ASM solves problems a heck of alot faster. Period.

Let me clarafy: yes, all basic commands can be called from C, but most ASM math programs (for 68k calcs) stink because if they were doing anything other than pi and crud like that they would not be in ASM in the first place!!!

TI-68k basic is more than good enough, and so far no ASM math programs (unless one has been added recently) give symbolic output. There is only one thing worth doing that can't be done well enough in TI-68k basic: additional symbolic math functions. That'd be nice, but it's unlikely to happen; the 83+ has had a decade for ASM programmers to develop such things and it hasn't happened yet. The only thing close is very incomplete and buggy algebra programs, convering only very pointless things like equations of line.

Don't assume that ASM is always better. Sometimes, it simply is an unnecessary waste of time to do math in ASM or C. Plus, C cannot be done directly on the calculator.

C can be done oncalc just not as well

Check out Gosper89: http://tinyurl.com/4lf9u

It's written in C (TIGCC) and it definitely DOES give symbolic output.

All I have to say to that is... "wow."

>> TI-BASIC (68k basic anyway) is much better than either of these languages, although with a lack of speed

That statement right there is just funny. Speed is _everything_. Do you want to type in an expression and wait a minute for it to calculate? With today's technology, even a few seconds of processing will make the average person very impatient.

Secondly, I don't see how you can hate ASM math programs. They can do so much more "if coded properly" (your same arguement for BASIC). Remember that BASIC is run through an interpreter (run by *gasp* ASM), so essentially, it's being run by ASM, only indirectly, which sucks because of how slow it is.

Third, you must have tried many of the ASM math programs. Have you seen Cabamap? (Though technically it's "flash") It's very powerful. You try programming that in BASIC.

Oh, and ASM takes up less space.

>> Of course, if this idea is only applied to TI-83/83+/84/84+ BASIC programs, that's fine since those programs suck.

But because you program in BASIC for ANOTHER calculator, that makes its BASIC language okay, right?

I agree with just about everything you said. It's stupid to generalize too much, like to say that "all asm math progs suck" or "all 83/84 basic progs suck". Both languages can be used to produce crappy programs, when badly coded, or great programs (of any type, even math progs), when coded well.