[Coco] Success! FOCAL lives again!

[Willard Goosey]

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 01:48:57PM -0800, Wayne Campbell wrote:
> I chuckled when I read this. I'm sure you may already know this, but in 
> case you don't, Basic09 *is* an interpreted BASIC language. 

Well, yes.  As usual, I phrased things badly.

What the BASIC-09 interpeter lacks that, say, DECB or FOCAL have, is
the useful combination of imediate-mode and program-mode.

A classic BASIC interpeter (like DECB) makes a handy, full featured
calculator.  What's 734.235 * 42.1723?  BASIC-09 can't tell you unless
you actually write a program.  Or maybe you're writing a program, and
suddenly need to do some math?  Or you're at a tricky bit of code, and
want to try it in immediate mode to make sure it does something sane?

Now, I'm not putting BASIC-09 down.  Many modern language interpeters
(PERL, etc) have moved beyond the immediate-mode shell experience,
leaving the shell's job for the shell to do.  (UNIX-ish) shells have
grown ever-more powerful in their own right.  This combination leaves
a classic BASIC interpeter with very little to do.  That's doubly true
for a weak language like FOCAL, which doesn't even have strings!
 
If there is a niche for FOCAL under OS-9 it's more in the
"programmable calculator" area.  Which is fine. That's a niche
BASIC-09 doesn't really fill. 

Willard
-- 
Willard Goosey  goosey at sdc.org
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
I search my heart and find Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.
  -- R.E. Howard