+Larry Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Atari Basic Basic XL Basic XE Turbo Basic XL Frost Basic 800 (almost the same features as TBXL) Fast Basic (the 1980's one) Fast Basic (the new one) Altirra Basic (8K) Altirra Extended Basic U-Basic Advan Basic Hypra Basic Compilers ABC TBXL Datasoft Compiler MMG Compiler (essentially the same as Datasoft) Advan Basic Compiler and Optimizer Wow -- a lot of Basics! Any I've forgotten? -Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanny Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 MS BASIC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Somewhat off topic.. but, can any of these be subverted to write Atari 5200 games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 basic++ from the emulator Atari++ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foft Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Microsoft basic Veronica basic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 (edited) There's also the JLS BASIC Compiler, and OSS BASIC A+. Edited November 28, 2018 by MrFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 MS Basic II (Microsoft) JLS Basic (my memory/brain says Basic, atarimania says Basic compiler: http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-jls-basic-compiler_31679.html Basic A+ (OSS) Multi-Basic (Drac030) - Fast Basic from the 80s => Fast Basic by CTH/Tom Hunt - Fast Basic the new one => Fast Basic by dmsc So, time to update your list in post #1... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricortes Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Somewhat off topic.. but, can any of these be subverted to write Atari 5200 games? The 5200 has its own BASIC compiler. There's a zip of it in this thread http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199556-whatever-happened-to-calamaris-basic-compiler/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scitari Posted November 28, 2018 Share Posted November 28, 2018 Maybe annotate the final list with the media they were available on. Only some of these came in cartridge form. Thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Atari BASIC came in A (400-800 cart), B (XL / some XE built in) and C (cart and built in on some XEs) versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 How could I forget Basic A+? The first improved Basic, IIRC. How easily I could forget Microsoft Basic! I forgot about JLS. Wasn't it one of those "Basic Assemblers" (used basic syntax to create an assembler product with macros like BASM)? I remember thinking it was a little unusual when I saw it (many years ago). Veronica Basic is Altirra Basic in Simius cart, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 The 5200 has its own BASIC compiler. There's a zip of it in this thread http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199556-whatever-happened-to-calamaris-basic-compiler/ That thing has been real dead for years. I appreciate the response, though! Too bad there's no support for 5200 hardware with any of the maintained options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 Doesn't the 5200 just have 16K or maybe 32K of ram? That seems pretty limiting for development. (?) -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricortes Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Doesn't the 5200 just have 16K or maybe 32K of ram? That seems pretty limiting for development. (?) -Larry IIRC 16k RAM, only a ~2k or 4k ROM with near zero features since 1k of it is character set, and 32k cartridge space. I think it would be possible to set up a 5200 development system since 5200 BASIC runs on an Intel platform. It is geared to produce a ~32 ROM/CART so you should be able to use an emulator to test CARTs as soon as they are output. There just isn't a lot of love for the 5200. So many things wrong with the device as a development system i.e. no storage, no keyboard. Really just a stripped down 16k 400 with little OS and no PIA chip. Some of the shortcomings could be worked around since a program that was developed for an 8 bit just needs a different location for a LSI chip and different joystick read but you really get into the why bother mindset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Aren't there two versions of Microsoft BASIC? Microsoft BASIC (on disc) Microsoft BASIC II (on cartridge with a disc with extensions, like BASIC XE) Turbo BASIC XL comes in two versions as well, there's the "standard" version for XLs and a version that works on 400/800s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 30, 2018 Author Share Posted November 30, 2018 Yes about MS Basic, but I don't consider a different "package" another Basic. Same with the A-B-C versions of Atari Basic. "Frost Basic" is the TB for the 800 or upgraded 400. This is a little more clear cut difference, since Frost features were left out from the XL version, and it is tethered to Dos 2.0. Likewise, the CTH version of Frost for Sparta (TB32Q) is functionally the same as the regular Dos 2.0 version, except for the Dos. I think that one time I got that version working with an early, small version of MyDos -- 3.07. But we still have a lot of Basics! I know of no other Micro that comes close. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 Out of curiosity, how much of the syntax is compatible between all those BASIC versions? In particular things like graphics, sound, input but also string handling, conditional jumps and other control structures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 2, 2018 Author Share Posted December 2, 2018 That's difficult to answer. I would give a "big picture" answer like this: Atari Basic is of course the default. Most of the rest are relatively syntax compatible, except MSB and (IIRC) to a lesser degree, ADVAN. (I don't remember a great deal about ADVAN other than I was disappointed after I bought it from Antic.) All of them have incompatibilities because most are supersets of the original. Of the ones I have used, TBXL, BXL/BXE, and Altirra/ATX are pretty compatible. FastBasic (new) is different in that it doesn't use line numbers and has a unique Editor system. I really like TBXL/ATX, Basic XE, Altirra (because it is ROMable) and the ABC Compiler (for its compact, stand-alone code). BXE stands out because of it's string arrays and built-in sort features. I hope that Phaeron ultimately has the time and inclination to add those two features to ATX. I think that ATX could be the "perfect" Basic for the A8. -Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfdbg Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Out of curiosity, how much of the syntax is compatible between all those BASIC versions? In particular things like graphics, sound, input but also string handling, conditional jumps and other control structures. Turbobasic is backwards compatible to Atari Basic, i.e. every AtariBasic program is also a TurboBasic program, but not vice-versa. Even the tokenization is identical. The same goes for Basic++, i.e. every Atari Basic program is also a Basic++ program. The reverse holds *almost*, there is one additonal token in Basic++, and this the "Dir" command, which is identical to TurboBasic, and there are a couple of syntax extensions such as allowing arrays for point,note,locate,get,read and input that are not valid in Atari Basic, but also valid in TurboBasic. So, in a sense, Basic++ is a "cut down" version of TurboBasic, mid-way between the two. But unlike Turbo Basic, it fits into the regular 8K cart space, i.e. you can make it a ROM. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 5, 2018 Author Share Posted December 5, 2018 Will Basic++ run OK using a stock (or other XL/XE OS) or does it require using your OS? I didn't realize that it was romable. Good to know. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfdbg Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Will Basic++ run OK using a stock (or other XL/XE OS) or does it require using your OS? No, it can operate on top of a standard Os. Though - due to the faster math pack - it makes more sense to run it on top of Os++. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Wasn't ABC and Advan the same thing (Advan BASIC Compiler)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 13, 2018 Author Share Posted December 13, 2018 No. There are several products that have the verbage "A... Basic Compiler," but ABC was from Monarch Data Services. It was first released about 1982 or 1983. The ADVAN system came later and was first sold (published?) by Antic. I bought ABC from the author the day that I read the first ad for it. I had several questions and called ABC. A woman answered the phone, and I remember that she said that the "Compiler Person" was not there, but he would call me back. He was a very helpful guy, and I purchased every update that he released. ABC had some interesting copy protection that I thought would never get broken, but of course, clever programmers proved me wrong. I also find it really amazing that Phaeron managed to get his new ATX Basic so close in speed to an ABC compiled program, but ABC is still unique because of its extremely compact compiled code. The history of compilers for the Atari is quite interesting, I think. -Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckybuck Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Hi togther, just quick, I am in a hurry: https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Basic but I will be back, there are some BASIC versions, I miss... Thank you very much Larry, great update! All should result to my mind into Atari Ultimate Basic through cross breeding. Did already made a post about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Everybody forgets about BASM. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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