The Commodore 64
From Maze
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= Conclusion = | = Conclusion = | ||
| − | Learning Through Play | + | BASIC, the programming language which spawned hundreds of dialects, was |
| − | -changing probabilities | + | an apt language for writing simple interactive games and other amusing programs. Yet even though BASIC facilitated programming for so many people, it remains indecipherable to many due to the large number of assumptions it, like other programming languages, depends upon. Therefore, 10 Print is an apt program to study - its single line of code illustrates major concepts, graphical cues and conventions useful to interpreting code on a larger number of computer platforms. |
| − | Hidden Code: | + | This chapter explained these assumptions beginning with high-level descriptions of the video terminal, the cursor and scrolling. Then, it presented them with an increased level of examination. The execution of 10 Print on the Commodore 64 was selected because it was especially widespread, as it appeared in the instructions on how to learn BASIC in its manual. This learning through play, for example, used 10 Print to teach a simple math lesson in changing probabilities. |
| − | Truncation, Colors, Screen Grid, Cursor, Scrolling | ||
| − | Getting Closer to the Hardware | + | It is also useful to consider the supporting infrastructure which props up the illusion of the user interface, including the Commodore's video routines and random number generation. These routines, similar to a large number of early home computers, are the ancestors of many paradigms of computer use including the ideas of the window. |
| − | -what is really going on inside? | ||
| − | Finding the Assumptions | + | It is probable that when reflecting upon assumptions within assumptions, the question surfaces of how far to pursue examination. In this chapter, the execution of the simple program 10 Print was traced through to the assembly-language layer. 10 Print was shown to be dependent upon user interface hardware, a CPU, and ROM routines to interpret the BASIC code. |
= Notes = | = Notes = | ||
