Regularity

The Commodore 64's video image is a grid 320 pixels wide and 200 pixels tall. This accommodates an array of characters or, in the terminology of Commodore 64 hi res graphics, attribute cells. Specifically, the grid is 40 attribute cells wide and 25 high. (There are other graphics modes that offer advantages, but for understanding 10 PRINT, the array of characters or attribute cells is most important.) The 40x25 grid contains exactly 1000 characters, each represented by a byte. This fits nicely into one kilobyte, 1024 bytes -- in fact, it is the largest grid of 40 characters that occupies 1024 bytes or less.

The Commodore 64's video image is a grid 320 pixels wide and 200 pixels tall. This accommodates an array of characters or, in the terminology of Commodore 64 hi res graphics, attribute cells. Specifically, the grid is 40 attribute cells wide and 25 high. (There are other graphics modes that offer advantages, but for understanding 10 PRINT, the array of characters or attribute cells is most important.) The 40x25 grid contains exactly 1000 characters, each represented by a byte. This fits nicely into one kilobyte, 1024 bytes -- in fact, it is the largest grid of 40 characters that occupies 1024 bytes or less.

While 10 PRINT could not be possible without the regularity of space, it also would be wholly other without regularity of time and process. The program is just as much the product of ordered isometric shapes across a grid as it is the repeated placement of those shapes. Gombrich notes that “Everything...points to the fact that temporal and spatial orders converge in our experience. No wonder language speaks of patterns in time and of rhythms in space” (10). He continues to examine simple mechanical temporal rhythms from the pendulum swing to the turn of the cog. As a bridging example between spatiality and temporality, he notes the way a regular configuration of stairs in a staircase in height and depth lead to a regular climb up the steps.

While 10 PRINT could not be possible without the regularity of space, it also would be wholly other without regularity of time and process. The program is just as much the product of ordered isometric shapes across a grid as it is the repeated placement of those shapes. Gombrich notes that “Everything...points to the fact that temporal and spatial orders converge in our experience. No wonder language speaks of patterns in time and of rhythms in space” (10). He continues to examine simple mechanical temporal rhythms from the pendulum swing to the turn of the cog. As a bridging example between spatiality and temporality, he notes the way a regular configuration of stairs in a staircase in height and depth lead to a regular climb up the steps.