4 ms·

BBC BASIC was pretty advanced but most people’s exposure to it was in schools so if kids wrote anything, it was usually using a common syntax that they’d learne

BBC BASIC was pretty advanced but most people’s exposure to it was in schools so if kids wrote anything, it was usually using a common syntax that they’d learned on their Sinclair, Commedore or whatever (BBC Mircos weren’t cheap from what I recall). So I think while the FN / FUNC approach was arguably better, I’d be surprised if it was more commonly used than GOTO or GOSUB. But who knows, maybe your circle of friends did things differently?

jacquesm 8y ago
Well, my 'Circle of friends' was rather limited, basically just three guys that taught each other programming and lots of books to read. This one: https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Advanced-Programming-Techniques-For-The-BBC-Micro/ https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Advanced-Progra... and the BBC manuals were pretty good. So was Newman and Sproull as well as David Levy's computer gamesmanship. And now that we are talking about this I do remember when I used the line numbers. I came to the BBC from the TRS80 Color Computer/Dragon 32, and that one had the good old Microsoft ROM basic, which did not have such luxuries. It really clicked for me when writing a musical score editing program, that I tried to put together using the 'old' way and then tried it again using the 'structured' way. The second time around the program made it to completion and it was lots easier to understand so I never really looked back after that. So to me that became the 'normal' way of doing things but I totally see how it could be that this experience was not typical. You are also right that they were not cheap, my fully decked out 'beeb' (double drives, 256K ram expansion) cost me more than a years worth of savings. But looking back it was most probably the best investment I ever made. It gave me a career.
- laumars 8y ago
  Interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing. I do think BBC Micros (Or at least 8bit BASIC machines in general) we’re responsible for a great many careers - mine included. I never used a Dragon in the 80s but do have a Dragon 64 packed away, waiting for me to hook up and play. I keep meaning to get it out but between work, family, and the other retro hardware, it sadly never gets a look. I’ve heard Dragons were nice machines though.
  - jacquesm 8y ago
    You can run OS/9 on them! http://archive.worldofdragon.org/index.php?title=OS-9_System http://archive.worldofdragon.org/index.php?title=OS-9_System
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
>BBC Mircos weren’t cheap from what I recall Yes, I think I paid £400 for mine.

jacquesm 8y ago

Well, my 'Circle of friends' was rather limited, basically just three guys that taught each other programming and lots of books to read. This one: https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Advanced-Programming-Techniques-For-The-BBC-Micro/ https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Advanced-Progra... and the BBC manuals were pretty good. So was Newman and Sproull as well as David Levy's computer gamesmanship. And now that we are talking about this I do remember when I used the line numbers. I came to the BBC from the TRS80 Color Computer/Dragon 32, and that one had the good old Microsoft ROM basic, which did not have such luxuries. It really clicked for me when writing a musical score editing program, that I tried to put together using the 'old' way and then tried it again using the 'structured' way. The second time around the program made it to completion and it was lots easier to understand so I never really looked back after that. So to me that became the 'normal' way of doing things but I totally see how it could be that this experience was not typical. You are also right that they were not cheap, my fully decked out 'beeb' (double drives, 256K ram expansion) cost me more than a years worth of savings. But looking back it was most probably the best investment I ever made. It gave me a career.

laumars 8y ago
Interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing. I do think BBC Micros (Or at least 8bit BASIC machines in general) we’re responsible for a great many careers - mine included. I never used a Dragon in the 80s but do have a Dragon 64 packed away, waiting for me to hook up and play. I keep meaning to get it out but between work, family, and the other retro hardware, it sadly never gets a look. I’ve heard Dragons were nice machines though.
- jacquesm 8y ago
  You can run OS/9 on them! http://archive.worldofdragon.org/index.php?title=OS-9_System http://archive.worldofdragon.org/index.php?title=OS-9_System

tonyedgecombe 8y ago

>BBC Mircos weren’t cheap from what I recall Yes, I think I paid £400 for mine.