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OP here. One interesting thing about FOCAL is that * has higher precedence than /. So in Lunar Lander, MG/ZK is what mathematicians and other languages woul

OP here. One interesting thing about FOCAL is that * has higher precedence than /. So in Lunar Lander, M*G/Z*K is what mathematicians and other languages would write M*G/(Z*K). I did a double take when I first saw that. :) As the Wikipedia article says, "This can cause subtle errors when converting FOCAL source code to other systems." Also, the IF syntax is a little limiting and hard to read, although I suppose programmers would get used to it.

pbhjpbhj 2y ago
Your code got munged, use backslash to escape * (otherwise it starts a span of italicised text), or use four leading blanks for code blocks (in which escaping is usually not needed): M*G/Z*K I think you meant, the above and M*G/(Z*K) respectively.
- martincmartin 2y ago
  Thanks. Fixed!
jprete 2y ago
That's surprising from today's perspective, but when I imagine the thought process, it seems reasonable, especially for math and science purposes where multiplication and division operators usually get grouped into a series of multiplications above the division bar, and a series of multiplications below it.
- martincmartin 2y ago
  True. + also has higher precedence than -, so that a - b + c means a - (b + c).
  - MarkusQ 2y ago
    Ah, the old My Dear Aunt Sally vs. My Dear Aunt Sally debate. :)
omoikane 2y ago
Another curious feature is that the labels appears to be floating point, as in "G 5.9" appears to transfer control to line starting at "05.90".
- LegionMammal978 2y ago
  They aren't actually floating-point: each label is a pair of numbers, the first denoting the group and the second denoting the line within that group. The groups have no semantic importance, they are only for organization.
  - LegionMammal978 2y ago
    Actually, I was mistaken. The line numbers aren't even numbers, so much as digit pairs, given how one-digit labels take the first digit. And the "DO" command takes a group number, runs each line within the group, then returns after the end of the group. So each group can effectively act as a subroutine. (In this particular game, this can be seen in groups 6 and 9.)

OP here. One interesting thing about FOCAL is that * has higher precedence than /. So in Lunar Lander, M*G/Z*K is what mathematicians and other languages woul

pbhjpbhj 2y ago

Your code got munged, use backslash to escape * (otherwise it starts a span of italicised text), or use four leading blanks for code blocks (in which escaping is usually not needed): M*G/Z*K I think you meant, the above and M*G/(Z*K) respectively.

martincmartin 2y ago
Thanks. Fixed!

jprete 2y ago

That's surprising from today's perspective, but when I imagine the thought process, it seems reasonable, especially for math and science purposes where multiplication and division operators usually get grouped into a series of multiplications above the division bar, and a series of multiplications below it.

martincmartin 2y ago
True. + also has higher precedence than -, so that a - b + c means a - (b + c).
- MarkusQ 2y ago
  Ah, the old My Dear Aunt Sally vs. My Dear Aunt Sally debate. :)

omoikane 2y ago

Another curious feature is that the labels appears to be floating point, as in "G 5.9" appears to transfer control to line starting at "05.90".

LegionMammal978 2y ago
They aren't actually floating-point: each label is a pair of numbers, the first denoting the group and the second denoting the line within that group. The groups have no semantic importance, they are only for organization.
- LegionMammal978 2y ago
  Actually, I was mistaken. The line numbers aren't even numbers, so much as digit pairs, given how one-digit labels take the first digit. And the "DO" command takes a group number, runs each line within the group, then returns after the end of the group. So each group can effectively act as a subroutine. (In this particular game, this can be seen in groups 6 and 9.)