BBC BASIC for Windows Review

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This is an implementation of the BBC BASIC programming language for PCs running Microsoft Windows (Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP or Vista), providing the programmer with a familiar language but with a modern user interface. It combines the simplicity of BASIC with the sophistication of a structured language, allowing you to write utilities and games, use sound and graphics, perform calculations and create complete Windows applications.

The Graphical User Interface includes a BASIC program editor with syntax colouring, live indentation, search & replace and many other features. Built-in diagnostic aids such as run-time trace, listing of variables and single-step execution make debugging even the most complex programs straightforward. Line numbers are optional.

BBC BASIC for Windows uniquely incorporates an assembler which generates 32-bit code and accepts all 80486 instructions and some Pentium-specific instructions (except special-register and privileged instructions), including floating-point and MMX. You can access the Windows Application Program Interface both from BASIC and from assembler code, allowing an experienced programmer to produce sophisticated applications.

The full (paid for) version allows you to create a compact (typically less than 100K) stand-alone executable (.EXE) file from your BASIC program, which will run without BBC BASIC having to be installed and without the need for any special DLLs. You can distribute such executables freely without any royalty being due.

Runs faster; Native Unicode support; Utilities menu can be customised.

16 Mbytes RAM.

Please contact BBC BASIC for Windows publisher, R T Russell if you have questions or issues regarding this product.

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