Atari ST BASIC (or ST Basic) was the first

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

BASIC BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...

that was produced for the

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

line of computers. This

BASIC interpreter A BASIC interpreter is an interpreter that enables users to enter and run programs in the BASIC language and was, for the first part of the microcomputer era, the default application that computers would launch. Users were expected to use the BAS ...

was bundled with all new STs in the early years of the ST's lifespan, and quickly became the standard BASIC for that platform. However, many users disliked it, and improved dialects of BASIC quickly came out to replace it.

Development

Atari Corporation Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of computers and video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than two months later when WarnerMedia, Warn ...

commissioned MetaComCo to write a version of BASIC that would take advantage of the

GEM A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

environment on the Atari ST. This was based on a version already written for

Digital Research Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser DOS, DOS Plus, DR DOS and ...

called DR-Basic, which was bundled with DR's

CP/M-86 CP/M-86 was a version of the CP/M operating system that Digital Research (DR) made for the Intel 8086 and Intel 8088. The system commands are the same as in CP/M-80. Executable files used the relocatable .CMD file format. Digital Research als ...

operating system. The result was called ST BASIC. At the time the ST was launched, ST BASIC was bundled with all new STs. A further port of the same language called ''ABasiC'' ended up being supplied for a time with the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

, but Commodore quickly replaced it with the Microsoft-developed

AmigaBASIC AmigaBASIC is an interpreted BASIC programming language implementation for the Amiga, designed and written by Microsoft. AmigaBASIC shipped with AmigaOS versions 1.1 to 1.3. It succeeded MetaComCo's ABasiC, which was included in AmigaOS 1.0 ...

Interface

The

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

consists of four

windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

: #EDIT, for entering

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...

#LIST, where the source code can be browsed #COMMAND, where instructions are entered and immediately executed #OUTPUT The windows can only be selected with the

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

Bugs

ST BASIC has many bugs. ''

Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET c ...

'' in September 1987 reported on one flaw that it described as "among the worst BASIC bugs of all time". Typing x = 18.9 results in

function not yet done
System error #%N, please restart

Similar commands, such as x = 39.8 or x = 4.725, crash the computer; the magazine described the results of the last command as "as bad a crash as you can get on the ST without seeing the machine rip free from its cables, drag itself to the edge of the desk, and leap into the trash bin". After citing other flaws (such as ? 257 * 257 and ? 257 ^ 2 not being equivalent) the magazine recommended "avoid ngST BASIC for serious programming". Regarding reports that MetaComCo was "one bug away" from releasing a long-delayed update to the language, it jokingly wondered "whether Atari has only one more bug to eliminate from ST BASIC or one more to add".

Alternatives

The relatively low quality of ST BASIC quickly opened up a market for third-party BASICs on the ST. FaST BASIC and

GFA BASIC GFA BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language, by Frank Ostrowski. The name is derived from the company ("GFA Systemtechnik GmbH"), which distributed the software. In the mid-1980s to the 1990s it enjoyed popularity as an advanced BA ...

were two of the first of these third-party BASICs to be released. As these BASICS were not free, a program written in one of these BASICs could only be listed and run if the user had that BASIC. However,

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...

s and run-time executables started to appear for these BASICs that produced executable code that could run on all STs, and

type-in program A type-in program or type-in listing was computer source code printed in a home computer magazine or book. It was meant to be entered via the keyboard by the reader and then saved to cassette tape or floppy disk. The result was a usable game, ...

s became less fashionable, so there was no longer a need for a standard BASIC. By then, HiSoft BASIC, Omikron BASIC and STOS BASIC had appeared. Some of these BASICs even started to be bundled with new STs in the later years.

Books

* ''Understanding Atari ST BASIC Programming'' — by Tim Knight, copyright 1986, * ''Atari ST BASIC Quick Reference Guide'' — by Atari, copyright 1986, revision A. * ''ST BASIC Sourcebook and Tutorial'' — by Atari, copyright 1986, Revision B.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basic, Atari St Atari ST software Programming languages created in 1985

BASIC interpreters BASIC programming language family