Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dartvax.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!dartvax!chuck
From: chuck@dartvax.UUCP (Chuck Simmons)
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: Another Basic.
Message-ID: <2792@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 1-Mar-85 18:52:09 EST
Article-I.D.: dartvax.2792
Posted: Fri Mar  1 18:52:09 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Mar-85 03:43:25 EST
References: <2778@dartvax.UUCP> <775@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA>
Distribution: net
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 33

> I'll say the latest ANSII standard BASIC is a far cry from anything running
> on a micro. As far as I know, it's a far cry from anything running, period.
> (Well, PL/I may be an exception :-).  Does anybody know if anyone has tried
> to build an ANSI standard BASIC system (compiler, interpreter, whatever)?

Here at Dartmouth where Basic was invented, we have 4 Basic compilers,
one of which is supposed to be ANSI standard.  You should check out
True Basic's Basic interpreter for the IBM PC and the Macintosh.  If it
isn't ANSI standard, it's damn near.

I usually program in a local variant of PL/1.  When I do program in Basic,
it's because Basic has a wonderful graphics interface -- at least when
compared with other languages on the system -- and Basic is better at
manipulating matrices than PL/1.

I think the portability issue is overrated.  Being able to port a program
from one machine to another is not as important as people imply.  A C program
written for the Macintosh (say, Hack, for example) that makes use of the 
graphics capabilities of the machine is just not going to port to a Vax
connected to a vt100.  Most of the programs I write, games and systems
software, are quite dependent on the local operating system.  For example,
I'm working on a multiuser version of Risk.  The way in which I receive
interrupts from a user is highly dependent on the OS.  Also, most of the
C programs I've worked with (hack, rogue, snake, emacs) won't port to our
system because we do not support single character I/O on terminals for
efficiency reasons.  (I use C as an example here because it is touted as
the example of a portable language.)  Before program portability can
become an issue, we need to have at least a standard operating system.
And I pray every night before I go to sleep that Unix will not become the
standard.

chuck_simmons%d1@dartvax