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From: sdyer@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: net.micro.6809
Subject: BASIC09 for CoCo OS-9
Message-ID: <387@bbncca.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 15-Dec-83 00:48:18 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncca.387
Posted: Thu Dec 15 00:48:18 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 17-Dec-83 03:26:34 EST
Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 22

Well, I found a copy at my local Radio Shack, as promised.  I haven't had
much time to play with it, only about an hour.  It's an interactive
compiler, generating something called 'I-code'.  The program has several
different modes: SYSTEM, the command level, EDIT, procedure entry using the
same syntax as the OS-9 command, EDIT, EXECUTION mode, and DEBUG mode.
There is also a mechanism to run "packed" I-code modules outside of the
BASIC09 development/debugging environment.  The program comes with a manual
which seems fairly thorough as far as the language and environment goes,
but says preciously little about installing the program on your system.  I
guess you usually just copy them to /d0/CMDS-- I didn't have enough space
left there, so I had to go through a few contortions.

The language seems quite nice, with all the interactive advantages of
BASIC, but with the control and data structures of PASCAL.  One strange
thing, though.  It seems that the language does not support user-defined
functions, only procedures.  I find this hard to believe, and it dampens
my enthusiasm a bit.  Perhaps I've misread the manual.  Can any BASIC09
gurus out there comment on this?
-- 
/Steve Dyer
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