2 ms·
This is fascinating! I started with BBC Basic II (on the Model B) which had IF..THEN but it was just one line and there was no ELSE. So if you wanted to make a
by codeulike 6y ago
This is fascinating!
I started with BBC Basic II (on the Model B) which had IF..THEN but it was just one line and there was no ELSE. So if you wanted to make a 'block' you had to call a different PROC (thankfully there were PROCedures so you could avoid GOTO)
As such when I was introduced to ELSE and ENDIF with BBC BASIC V on the Archimedes it seemed like very welcome syntactic sugar - it let you do the same stuff but in a tidier way
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_BASIC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_BASIC
- ksangeelee 6y agoBBC Basic II does have ELSE, it just has to go on one line. IF A=4 THEN PRINT "FOUR" ELSE PRINT "NOT FOUR" Statements for the IF block and the ELSE block can be separated by ':'. I was recently given a BBC Micro and it's a fascinatingly impressive machine, the hardware and software are so beautifully designed in tandem that it's quite awesome even in 2020.
- codeulike 6y agoah yes you are right, the in-line ELSE Obligatory shout out for 'Micro Men', about the making of the BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM
- ksangeelee 6y agoFor more geeky insights into the time, I can recommend the book The ZX Spectrum ULA http://www.zxdesign.info/book/ http://www.zxdesign.info/book/ The business side of things is incidental to the rich details of the hardware design and production.