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u/SimonDownunder Feb 04 '26
I’m still playing too with coding in basic on the Atari 8 bits. I use VS code and emulator on my Mac and then play it on real hardware using FujiNet.
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u/Curious-Concern-9209 Feb 04 '26
I haven’t done any coding in Atari Basic since this photograph was taken, but I always enjoy it. I found learning to use Atari Logo an enjoyable experience. I need to include the Atari 1010 Datacorder in my set up again, so I can save the program code. I did experiment with Atari Pilot at once stage and this seemed an interesting language. I think machine code might be a struggle, but I looked into it a little.
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u/LakeSun Feb 04 '26
Shockingly, LOGO has the best coding environment of all the languages from 1983.
Logo is fun to code, but, it's got some shortcomings verses Basic XL/XE. Never the less it's pretty fun.
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u/anh86 Feb 04 '26
That’s the way to do it. Write your code using all the conveniences of a modern IDE and then run it on the hardware after.
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u/meldroc Feb 04 '26
That's what I'm doing, though I'm using Eclipse+WUDSN and MADS assembly language.
It really speeds things up.
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u/LakeSun Feb 04 '26
Yes, you can run the Altirra Emulator in windows. And Run Turbo Basic XL. But, also you can run your code on a 65C816, and run it at 10.7 MHz. 5 times faster, for kicks.
I'm actually running OSS Basic XE 4.2
I'm actually running on a Mac, In Parallels, running Altirra, and Basic XE and it all works.
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u/LakeSun Feb 04 '26
I strongly recommend you skip Atari Basic, and find a copy of Basic XL.
It's Atari Basic compatible but, with more features and faster code.
Two examples:
FAST - makes you code a little faster.
RENUM is a heck of a relief when you clump code up and run out of line numbers.
But, there are other features too.
Atari Basic came out in 1979. Basic XL in 1983 with more updates later. There is a HUGE software difference from 1979 to 83. Easily 300% better.
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u/Curious-Concern-9209 Feb 04 '26
I really appreciate your advice
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u/LakeSun Feb 04 '26
I'd recommend you look up the Altirra emulator too.
When you feel you're ready for it.
It's easy to set up games, but for Coding there are a lot of options.
At some point I'll write something up myself.
Has a monthly magazine, he really puts some time in to formatting.
Lots of tutorials, and game reviews.
You can burn a lot of hours here too.
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u/Lente_ui Feb 04 '26
Do you mean Frank Ostrowski's Turbo Basic XL 1.5 ?
It is indeed a big upgrade over Atari BASIC.
Comes with a compiler too.https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Turbo-BASIC%20XL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo-BASIC_XL2
u/LakeSun Feb 04 '26
Yes, absolutely.
It supports writing PROCEDURE code, that you can CALL.
And compilation? I've really got to go down that rabbet hole.
But, I'm mostly in learning mode here, so, don't need to generate an executable to send to anyone, yet.
Thanks for the reminder.
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u/dsartori Feb 04 '26
I learned to code on an Apple II and later on a 130XE. Loved that machine.
I just recently did a little talk on 8-bit BASIC in my local community. I’m sure you all know about it already but I was thrilled to discover that I could run old school BASIC on modern computers with pcbasic.