[Coco] C VS Basic Coco

Wed Feb 14 11:30:30 EST 2018

The editor here on my phone change some of my words after I entered them.
Sorry for any confusion that may cause. I am also noticing that The Voice
recognition is not recognizing all of my words anymore. Anyone else seeing
this on their phones?

Wayne

On Feb 14, 2018 8:28 AM, "Wayne Campbell" <asa.rand at gmail.com> wrote:

> Basic09 brings a lot to the table. First, what numbers are allowed, but
> not necessarily required. The requirement of line numbers applies only to
> the use of GOTO or GOSUB statements. In this regard why numbers are more
> like labels then they are actual numbers. That said you cannot use text and
> are restricted to using numbers, so in that sense they are actual numbers.
> When it comes to writing the code, any text editor will do. Indentation is
> allowed, as all blank lines separating sections of code. Basic09 will strip
> all leading spaces when you load your source into it. Basic09 also has
> structured elements, such as WHILE, REPEAT and LOOP loops (and FOR/ NEXT),
> ON <expression> GOTO/GOSUB flow control, ON ERROR GOTO error control, and a
> handy IF/THEN <line reference> branch control. You can select base
> numbering using BASE 1 or 0 for arrays, which have 1, 2, or 3 dimensions.
> Basic09 also has record structures (known as complex data types) which
> allow you to work with data beyond the simple data types (BYTE, INTEGER,
> REAL, BOOLEAN and STRING). Strings can be variable length, up to 32767
> bytes. Instructions can be longer than 255 characters, but statements
> longer than 255 will not be displayed correctly in the editor. Code can be
> "packed" into I-Code modules (intermediate code) that are executable and
> are handled by the runtime program RunB. This allows for faster execution
> and easier distribution of programs without having to distribute the source
> code. There is much more. I suggest reading the  Basic09 manual.
>
> Wayne
>
>
> On Feb 14, 2018 6:37 AM, "Lee" <leep at tigerbase.com> wrote:
>
>> "*What's hard to find about that?*" - Find? Nothing's hard. Understand
>> what
>> "5000" means?  Impossible without reverse-engineering it (i.e. reading the
>> code).  Keeping in your head what routines at what line numbers do for
>> large program with 1000's of routines is not something I could do. :)
>> Well
>> (descriptively) named routines and variables can go a long way to making a
>> program more easily understood and maintained.  You may understand what
>> "5000" means now, but another developer looking at it probably won't, and
>> the you 5 years in the future might not either.
>>
>> That said, I agree that the curly brackets don't necessarily add to the
>> readability.  Proper indentation, naming of routines and variables, and
>> spacing between routines can go a long way.  Unfortunately, CB/ECB/DECB
>> doesn't allow for indentation nor naming (2 letters in no way allows
>> proper
>> naming).  I'm not familiar with Basic09 to know what it brings to the
>> table.
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 8:02 AM, Francis Swygert <farna at att.net> wrote:
>>
>> > From: Scott Wendt <malfunct at msn.com>
>> >
>> > I don't want to stir up any arguments, because whatever language that
>> gets
>> > the job done and is the one you want to use is the one you should use,
>> but
>> > I think the things that make BASIC easy to get started with are the same
>> > ones that makes it poorly suited for complex projects.
>> >
>> > A lot of the extra "stuff" in structured languages are there to
>> represent
>> > program structure and does really lend to the readability and
>> > maintainability of large complex projects. For me personally brackets
>> and
>> > indentation are super important for identifying logical blocks of code.
>> > ==============================================
>> > I find that amusing! I've never coded in anything but CoCo BASIC, but
>> have
>> > followed and modified some C code... with explicit directions on what to
>> > modify and where.
>> >
>> > I find the use of brackets and indentations MUCH more confusing than
>> well
>> > coded BASIC with line numbers. Part of you know what you learn, I guess.
>> > Unless you really packed BASIC code, subroutines generally start with a
>> > whole number (like 500... with a "GOTO 500" to go to that routine).
>> What's
>> > hard to find about that? I've seen some long, packed lines of BASIC
>> code,
>> > and some packed programs that seem to just number from 1 to whatever and
>> > use every line, but those are either poorly coded or packed to get the
>> most
>> > out of available memory. Those packed programs can be hard to follow,
>> but
>> > once you identify the sub routines and their line number range you're
>> > pretty much done. You might want to go through that Apple BASIC program
>> and
>> > do that first. I've not coded anything in a LONG time.. to the point I
>> > don't think I could now. But I did use some GW BASIC program as a guide
>> to
>> > writing a complex CoCo3 program (had to do an all but total re-write,
>> not
>> > really "converted"). I made an ASCII text listing of the GWB program and
>> > divided it up with spaces into the separate routines to make it easy to
>> > read, then tackled each routine one by one when possible (some were
>> > dependent on others and couldn't be tested separately, of course). You
>> > might try that... or use spaces and brackets to separate the listing if
>> you
>> > find that easier to work with. I just don't understand the placement of
>> the
>> > spaces and brackets... no misunderstanding line numbers!
>> >  Frank Swygert
>> >  Fix-It-Frank Handyman Service
>> >  803-604-6548
>> >
>> > --
>> > Coco mailing list
>> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
>> > https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Lee Perkins
>> TigerBase Technologies
>> leep at tigerbase.com
>> ------------------------------
>>
>>
>> *[image: Hampton Roads .NET Users Group]2nd Tuesday of every month. Come
>> meet, learn, network and eat pie!
>> <http://www.meetup.com/Hampton-Roads-NET-Users-Group/>*
>>
>> --
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>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>
>