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BASIC Doesn't Have to Be That Basic
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Posted on 24 January 1999
The following text was written by Patrick
Wilson: Hello everyone. I've been thinking a lot after submitting my
article, The TI Programming Alliance, and I realized
a few important things. People complain that good assembly programs are few and far between.
This is unfortunately true, however don't leave BASIC out. Unless it's for the TI-83 or
less. Let's face it, BASIC pretty much just sucks. With the exception of rapid development
and almost no risk of crashing, it's slow, cumbersome, inefficient, and resource lacking.
Assembly makes up for this, fixing all of these (most of the time). Now, I may have strayed
a bit, but... I bring these facts up for a reason and I'll get to the point in just a bit.
There is this group of highly talented BASIC programmers that go under the name of "BKSoft".
They make VERY good games for the TI-86. All in BASIC though. Second, an assembly program
under the name of ASAP X Command extends BASIC in a unique way. It adds simple, fast, and
very effective extensions to BASIC such as the ability to display inverted text, draw
sprites, test the existence of variables and much more. Now, I will explain why I've said so
many different things. What if BASIC was extended by so much, that you couldn't tell where
the BASIC ended and the ASM begins? That's right folks! Add assembly power functions to
the built-in BASIC. Just think, it wouldn't be that awfully hard. - Find
out what BASIC programmers want.
Personally, I want the ability to draw sprites, find
out whether or not the Axes or Coordinates or the Grid's are on, and have fast encryption
and decryption. Just think, a math program that didn't mess up your graph screen, a BASIC
RPG with fast moving sprites (Yes, BASSPro for the 86 does do this), and a way to encrypt
saved games with a password so no one can screw up your saved game when you almost beat it!
- Create an API.
OK, big idea coming! OK, you got one program that runs
tiny little applets in the form of a prgm file. The applets would add all the functionality,
while the big one would be run through the BASIC program wishing to use the applets. The
program would search for all applets with a certain header and load them. Finally, the
program could use the commands that were added by the applets. Phew!!! - Keep some
control.
We want functionality, not oversized crap. If this idea is put to use,
please use good judgment.
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Reply to this item
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Re: Article: "BASIC Doesn''t Have to be That Basic"
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Excalibur
(Web Page)
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I have no knowledge of ASM whatsoever, other than the best games are programmed in it (i'm not putting down BASIC, but ASM has a lot of advantages). If is's possible to make a shell that lets me make BASIC stuff go as fast and look as good as ASM, that'd be great!!! (maybe a compiler that turns BASIC into ASM?) Being able to draw with grayscale in basic would be nice (not that CyclePic command either) Anyone who can make a shell like that, or upgrade the TI OS, Email ME! (TI92+ only)
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Reply to this comment
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17 May 1999, 16:31 GMT
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Re: Re: Article: "BASIC Doesn''t Have to be That Basic"
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no_one_2000_ 
(Web Page)
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My thoughts on BASIC and ASM are:
ASM is great. You can do anything low-level without restrictions. BASIC is slow. If BASIC were fast, then it would be great, but it's really slow and it lacks quite a bit of important features.
I've made BASIC games before, and for a while, it's fun to play them, but after about 5 rounds or so, you realize "these graphics suck!" and "this game goes as slow as cold molasses" That's why BASIC isn't popular. Now, with TIGCC for TI-89/92+ you can make C programs that run as fast as ASM, and the language is as easy to learn as BASIC, but it is much more poweful. I think it's a great alternative if you're too lazy to learn ASM or you hate BASIC.
But, I've read plenty of interesting webpages on how to do tricks in BASIC, but it's sometimes such a pain in a butt, it's not worth it.
Overall, I think that ASM is defenately the best choice over BASIC.
What I'd like to see in BASIC is
. MUCH MUCH faster processing
. Use of sprites
. low-level key reading
. More graphics options
. better use of binary
. grayscale
etc
What does everyone else think?
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27 June 2002, 00:36 GMT
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BASIC means EZ & accesibility
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Cha$
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I think basic is great. I am not bashing ASM. ASM is great, but you cant program it on your calculator, so basic is the quick solution for those programs on the "fly". I have created about 30 basic programs for math class that let me do 30 problems in 10 minutes, when it takes the "ti-less" people over an hour. As long as you keep the size down basic ain't bad and i think this idea of ASM and basic incorporated is GREAT!
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Reply to this comment
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3 June 1999, 23:47 GMT
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