Atari BASIC
Atari BASIC is an interpreter for the BASIC programming language that shipped with the Atari 8-bit family of 6502-based home computers. Unlike most American BASICs of the home computer era, Atari BASIC is not a derivative of Microsoft BASIC and differs in significant ways. It includes keywords for Atari-specific features and lacks support for string arrays, for example.
A program ready to run | |
| Family | BASIC |
|---|---|
| Designed by | Paul Laughton Kathleen O'Brien |
| Developer | Shepardson Microsystems |
| First appeared | 1979 |
| Stable release | Revision C
/ 1983 |
| Platform | Atari 8-bit family |
| License | Commercial proprietary software |
| Influenced by | |
| Data General Business Basic | |
| Influenced | |
| BASIC A+, BASIC XL, BASIC XE, Turbo-BASIC XL | |
The language was distributed as an 8 KB ROM cartridge for use with the 1979 Atari 400 and 800 computers. Starting with the 600XL and 800XL in 1983, BASIC is built into the system. There are three primary versions of the software: the original cartridge-based "A", the built-in "B" for the 600XL/800XL, and the final "C" version in late-model XLs and the XE series.
Despite the Atari 8-bit computers running at a higher speed than most of its contemporaries, several technical decisions placed Atari BASIC near the bottom in performance benchmarks. The original authors addressed most of these issues in a series of improved versions: BASIC A+ (1981), BASIC XL (1983), and BASIC XE (1985). A host of third-party interpreters and compilers like Turbo-BASIC XL also appeared.
The complete, annotated source code and design specifications of Atari BASIC were published as The Atari BASIC Source Book in 1983.