Atari 2600 Basic Programming
BASIC Programming was a cartridge for the Atari 2600 game console and was released in 1979. This program was one of the few cartridges for this game console that did not contain a game; rather, it made it possible for the user to write and run simple programs. Two Atari keyboard controllers were required for this module. A special foil was supplied for the controller, which was placed on the controller so that all commands could be recognized directly on the foil (overlay foil). Due to the extremely small RAM of the Atari 2600 (only 128 bytes ) the possibilities of this module were extremely limited; a program could contain a maximum of nine commands. The language implemented by the module also had little in common with the BASIC language, the unprotected name of this language was probably used primarily for advertising purposes.
The BASIC PROGRAMMING screen is divided into six areas:
- "Program" - input of the commands (max. 9 lines of code).
- “Stack” - shows the preliminary result of the program.
- "Variables" - displays the values of each variable in the program
- "Output" - shows all output values that the program generates
- “Status” - shows the remaining memory available
- "Graphics" - contains two squares which can be controlled by the program
Atari 2600 Basic Programming was programmed by Warren Robinett .
Miscellaneous
Alternatively, the Spectravideo CompuMate SV-010 was offered by Spectravideo . In this product were u. a. more RAM and a keyboard included.