Recent Posts

1

BBC BASIC / Re: Console Mode editions updated to version 0.48

« Last post by Richard Russell on March 19, 2025, 09:08:18 PM »

Thanks Richard for the hints. I assumed if you got Pico going the Zero was already done.

They are quite different devices, with very little in common except the name 'Raspberry Pi'!  I think the Zero runs some variety of Linux doesn't it?  The Pico is a microcontroller and doesn't have an OS as such (just a C runtime library).

Anyway I didn't make the version for the Pico - that's way beyond my skill - it was done by 'Memotech Bill'.  I kept telling him it couldn't work, because my BBC BASIC wasn't designed to run on such a tiny machine with so little memory, but he persevered:

 https://github.com/Memotech-Bill/PicoBB

2

BBC BASIC / Re: Console Mode editions updated to version 0.48

« Last post by Richard Russell on March 17, 2025, 05:59:07 PM »

./bbcbasic: /lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libm.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.29' not found (required by ./bbcbasic)

That's to be expected when running a pre-compiled binary on an entirely different machine!  You must compile it from source.

3

BBC BASIC / Re: Console Mode editions updated to version 0.48

« Last post by Richard Russell on March 17, 2025, 05:52:37 PM »

Does your console BASIC run on the RPI Zero W1?

I've no idea, I don't have one.  I don't make available a pre-compiled version for that platform, so you'd need to recompile it from the source code.  I'd be interested to learn what happens if you try.

As regards dependencies, it does rely on compiler extensions and intrinsics supported only by GCC and Clang, but that's not a major limitation in practice.

But the fact that it can successfully be run on the Raspberry Pi Pico, which is little more than a microcontroller, shows that the demands on system resources are not great.

4

BBC BASIC / BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 version 1.41a released

« Last post by Richard Russell on March 17, 2025, 05:44:49 PM »

I have released version 1.41a of BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 - the cross-platform programming language for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, Android, iOS and in-browser.  The changes in this version are as follows:

• Environment
  
  Updated the version of SDL to SDL 2.32.0 (except the Linux and in-browser editions).
  
  
• BASIC Interpreter / Run Time Engine
  
  Added array slicing, using the syntax: array(first TO [last]) or array(row, first TO [last]).
  
  Compound assignment and array arithmetic now also accept the exponentiation operator '^'.
  
  In the default *HEX32 mode, PRINT~ and STR$~ report an error if the value cannot be expressed as 32-bit hex.
  
  
• IDEs and Utilities
  
  In compiler.bbc, improved the manual selection of multiple embedded files from a sub-directory.
  
  In compiler.bbc, a REM!Resource directive, if present, embeds the resource into a Windows executable.
  
  Added versinfo.bbc utility to create a VERSIONINFO resource suitable for embedding in a Windows executable.
  
  
• Libraries
  
  Updated gfxlib.bbc to add PROC_gfxInvert, PROC_gfxPlotScaleDissolve and PROC_gfxPlotScaleAlphaBlend.
  
  Updated arraylib.bbc to support creating alias arrays from slices of 1D and 2D arrays.
  
  
• Example Programs
  
  Added filters.bbc (in examples/general) and soccerball.bbc (in examples/graphics).
  
  Added spinmaze.bbc (in examples/physics) and bauble.bbc & belier.bbc (in examples/sounds).
  

This version may be downloaded, for all the supported platforms, from the usual location (the Android and iOS editions should be installed from the appropriate App Store).  The GitHub repository has also been updated.

5

BBC BASIC / Console Mode editions updated to version 0.48

« Last post by Richard Russell on March 02, 2025, 04:43:56 PM »

I have updated the BBC BASIC Console Mode editions (BBCTTY) to version 0.48: The main changes in this version are:

• Support for array slicing has been added, using the syntax array(first TO last) or array(row, first TO last).
  
  
• Compound assignment and array arithmetic can now both use the exponentiation operator ^.
  
  
• In the default *HEX32 mode, PRINT~ and STR$~ report an error if the value cannot be expressed as 32-bit hex.
  
  
• Added median.bbc as a demonstration of array slicing (it implements the Quickselect algorithm).
  

The new version can be downloaded from the usual place.

6

BaCon / piGPIO + PICO

« Last post by admin on December 29, 2024, 01:58:30 AM »

Start of pi gpio & pico pgpio

7

BBC BASIC / Re: New: Console Mode editions of BBC BASIC

« Last post by Richard Russell on October 29, 2024, 06:13:14 PM »

I have updated the Console Mode editions of BBC BASIC to version 0.47.  The changes in this version are:

• Global integer arrays are guaranteed to be 4-byte (DWORD) aligned; previously only LOCAL arrays were forcibly aligned.
  
  
• The Raspberry Pi Pico edition now supports access to WiFi networking on the Pico W.
  
  
• The mysqllib library and mysqldem example program are supplied with the Raspberry Pi Pico edition..
  

Version 0.47 may be downloaded from the usual place.

8

BBC BASIC / BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 version 1.40a released

« Last post by Richard Russell on July 03, 2024, 04:40:13 PM »

I have released version 1.40a of BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 - the cross-platform programming language for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, Android, iOS and in-browser.  The changes in this version are as follows:

• Environment
  
  Added a 64-bit Windows binary for direct downloading (it was always possible to build it from source).
  
  
• BASIC Interpreter / Run Time Engine
  
  Integer arrays are now guaranteed to be 32-bit aligned, even if created on the heap.
  
  Minor improvements to outline and filled circle plotting and flood fill.
  
  
• IDEs and Utilities
  
  Fixed compiler.bbc incorrectly crunching the TOP pseudo-keyword.
  
  Improved the accessibility of touchide.bbc on an Amazon Fire TV Stick.
  
  
• Libraries
  
  Modified aagfxlib.bbc to improve B?zier curves and arcs which have arrow endcap(s).
  
  Modified pdflib.bbc to support multiple-page PDFs (with thanks to Svein Svensson).
  
  
• Example Programs
  
  Added truchet.bbc and vampire.bbc in examples/graphics.
  
  Restored functionality lost from sheet.bbc when it was originally ported from BB4W.
  

This version may be downloaded, for all the supported platforms, from the usual location (the Android and iOS editions should be installed from the appropriate App Store).  The GitHub repository has also been updated.

9

BBC BASIC / BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 version 1.39a released

« Last post by Richard Russell on February 27, 2024, 03:58:26 PM »

I have released version 1.39a of BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 - the cross-platform programming language for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, Android, iOS and in-browser.  The changes in this version are as follows:

• Environment
  
  Updated SDL2 to version 2.30.0 and SDL2_ttf to version 2.22.0 (Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS).
  
  Increased the initial value of HIMEM to 32 Mbytes above PAGE.
  
  Increased the maximum heap size, in 64-bit editions only, to 4 Gbytes (heap pointers are 32-bits so this is the largest possible size).
  
  
• BASIC Interpreter / Run Time Engine
  
  Extended VDU 19 to be able to set colours with an alpha (opacity) value.
  
  Added *FX 19 as a synonym for *REFRESH.
  
  
• IDEs and Utilities
  
  Modified the 'compiler' to support wildcards in REM!Embed directives.
  
  Modified SDLIDE for compatibility with 'self-examining' programs.
  
  
• Libraries
  
  Added PROC_slice() and PROC_redim() (etc.) to the arraylib library.
  
  Modified the gpiolib library for compatibility with 64-bit PiOS and the Raspberry Pi 5.
  
  
• Example Programs
  
  Added smithchart.bbc, an antialiased Smith Chart graticule, in examples/graphics.
  
  Added keywords.bbc, a list of one-line keyword descriptions, principally for the Android and iOS editions.
  
  Added server_multi.bbc (in examples/general, desktop editions only) which can accept up to 8 concurrent connections.
  
  Added gpiotest.bbc (in examples/general, Raspberry Pi only) to test the gpiolib library.

This version may be downloaded, for all the supported platforms, from the usual location (the Android and iOS editions should be installed from the appropriate App Store).  The GitHub repository has also been updated.

10

BBC BASIC / Re: BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 version 1.37a released

« Last post by John Spikowski on November 19, 2023, 08:53:34 PM »

Thanks Richard for the clarification of COM/OLE support in BBC BASIC.