Interpreters for Languages other than BASIC?

[+Larry]

In the CC65 thread here, it mentions that an Interpreter was written for CC65. Were there other interpreters for the Atari besides the BASIC ones? I was thinking that one of the PASCALs had an interpreter. (?) ACTION! gets an "almost, but not quite" since it is so easy to access the compiler from the editor environment. I always liked the interpreter + compiler development model -- get it working right with the interp. then compile it.

 

-Larry

[Rybags]

Aren't Pilot and Logo interpreted?

 

Lisp?

 

Supposedly Deep Blue C compiles to pseudo-code (8080 instructions) then executes it in an interpretor (emulator) environment.

[Timbit]

I've never seen an interpreted Pascal for the Atari, but Watcom Pascal on the C64, and Instant Pascal on the Apple II are interpreted.

 

Some might argue the Forth environment is much like an interpreted environment.

[luckybuck]

Yes, tiny-c from OSS:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/245227-oss-tiny-c-copyright-c-1978-tiny-c-associates-1982-oss-inc/?hl=+tiny#8208c=

[ricortes]

There was an interpreted BASIC written in BASIC. In his Compute column Bill Wilkinson intended to use BASIC to demonstrate/teach how to write an interpreter. He killed the project before it was completed and kind of poked fun at himself about it. ~'It was so slow, you could see the FOR NEXT loops unroll.'

 

I wrote an R: interpreter in Action as part of a terminal program. Idea was to give complete control to a BBS such that they could perform everything from redesigned character sets to USR calls. It never made it out into the wild<maybe one local BBS?> since it would also give the BBS the power to format your hard drive. Long lost now, all my floppies from that era ruined.

 

Development on it wasn't that bad. IIRC easiest way to develop code was to just use two Atari null modem connected together. You would just save your code to the R: device which was the 2nd Atari running the terminal program and it would execute as it fed. I can't remember if I used any delimiters like <RETURN> key. I think I just used syntax checking, when ever the interpreter had a full command with the right number of parameters it executed. I'm pretty sure I included console interpreter within the terminal program but no way to save your code from there.

 

I would really have to rate that as dumbest program I ever wrote. Just a bad idea but a bit of fun.

 

For the record, I believe Tom Pittman rewrote his Tiny Basic in C and has made it available. IIF someone was really into doing the obscure and pointless they could get his code and compile it on the Atari. I don't think anyone would be interested in limiting their programs to 26 variables A-Z and no floating point.

Edited January 9, 2016 by ricortes

[Shawn Jefferson]

Really, there was an interpreted CC65 on the Atari? That's surprising, but then again, I never did use the original cc65 that ran on the Atari, and only the PC cross-assembler/compiler/linker suite.