3 ms·
> If you type a valid command, the computer does it _now_. If you prefix it with a number, the computer remembers it and does it later. You can come at that fr
by msla 3y ago
> If you type a valid command, the computer does it _now_. If you prefix it with a number, the computer remembers it and does it later.
You can come at that from a different perspective in an improved editor, like Emacs, with the interpreter running as a subprocess: Write whatever you want, then send a portion of it to the interpreter and see the results in another window or pane.
> In BASIC, if output is in quotes, the language prints it. Other stuff is outside the quotes. Dead easy, simple, memorable.
I wonder if this is simpler to you just because you imprinted on specific BASIC dialects as a child.
- lproven 3y ago> You can come at that from a different perspective in an improved editor, like Emacs 1. I wouldn't put beginners in front of Emacs, no. 2. The BASIC user-interaction model can be implemented in 8kB of ROM, and was on most Commodore 8-bits, for instance, without any block-addressible direct storage. That's a big win, in my book. > I wonder if this is simpler to you just because you imprinted on specific BASIC dialects as a child. I genuinely don't think so, no. It genuinely seems like a simple, clean, logical division to me, and the way that C and C-derived languages let implementation details fall through for the user to have to face and deal with seems like a major failing to me.