Converting MINI-BASIC in MASM over to C++?

Sebastiani · 04-28-2009, 08:55 PM

It runs fine for me. What system are you running? I wonder if running strip.exe (a program to remove unnecessary information from the executable) had anything to do with it? I've included a the pre-stripped version here, just in case you want to try it out. Another option (though I'm not sure you're familiar with) is to build the program from the source with a C++ compiler.

matsp · 04-29-2009, 01:58 AM

When you load minibasic, or when you load a basic program into minibasic?

If the latter, what program are you loading?

--
Mats

matsp · 04-29-2009, 02:07 AM

I downloaded the zip-file onto my work-machine, and although I haven't got any basic file to load into it, it certainly works as far as getting a "Ready" prompt, and a 10 Print "Hello, World" works fine too.

--
Mats

Paul Panks · 04-29-2009, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastiani

It runs fine for me. What system are you running? I wonder if running strip.exe (a program to remove unnecessary information from the executable) had anything to do with it? I've included a the pre-stripped version here, just in case you want to try it out. Another option (though I'm not sure you're familiar with) is to build the program from the source with a C++ compiler.

I'm running Windows XP SP2.

Paul

Paul Panks · 04-29-2009, 09:18 AM

Now it works.

Paul

Sebastiani · 04-29-2009, 10:31 AM

OK, good. Let us know if you find any bugs or have any problems with it.

matsp · 04-30-2009, 05:21 PM

I've just updated the code quite dramatically. I'm not sure at this point if I've broken something - running pitman in game-mode seems to work correctly.

--
Mats

Sebastiani · 04-30-2009, 05:30 PM

Alright. I'm tied up in a project at the moment, but as soon as I have a chance I'll check it out.

Paul Panks · 05-05-2009, 01:30 PM

Looks good.

Paul

Paul Panks · 05-06-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastiani

>> To make it "binary compatible" with the existing assembly code, I think reading documentation may not be sufficient.

Good point.

How's the port coming along?

Paul

Paul Panks · 05-07-2009, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastiani

>> ...but I think porting it to C/C++ would benefit the C/C++ community.

How exactly does a C/C++ programmer benefit?

>> It is a useful language modeled after Palo Alto Tiny BASIC from 1976.

Debatable. I once had the task of translating a legacy program written in BASIC to C. The problem was that over the years, with each modification, the program had developed more and more bugs, and ran ever slower. The program consisted of at least 10,000 - 15,000 lines of code, and the maintainers openly admitted that they had problems understanding the code themselves (which they had written!), and were not at all sure what was causing all of the errors. After reading the code for a few hours it became clear to me that a complete rewrite would be necessary. Tracing the flow of the code was nearly impossible, and global variables were strewn all over the place. A real mess. Incidentally, the C version took only a few days to complete, was orders of magnitude smaller, and ran much faster. The bottom line is that BASIC just isn't very scaleable. It may be 'useful' for certain toy projects, but falls way short of being a 'real' programming language.

True, but C++ is a good starting point.

Paul

Sebastiani · 05-08-2009, 07:40 AM

>> How's the port coming along?

I was actually waiting to see if you had found any bugs or missing features. If not, I suppose we can make a final release out of it, but I just wanted to make sure that everything was working properly before doing that.

Paul Panks · 05-08-2009, 09:00 PM

Yes, it is working fine.

Paul

Paul Panks · 05-11-2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastiani

It runs fine for me. What system are you running? I wonder if running strip.exe (a program to remove unnecessary information from the executable) had anything to do with it? I've included a the pre-stripped version here, just in case you want to try it out. Another option (though I'm not sure you're familiar with) is to build the program from the source with a C++ compiler.

Is this the latest release?

Paul

Sebastiani · 05-11-2009, 03:56 PM

No, there have been some changes since the last release, so I'll try to post the newest one sometime near the end of the week (assigned with a 2.0 version number).

04-29-2009, 01:58 AM	#317
matsp Kernel hacker Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Farncombe, Surrey, England Posts: 15,686	When you load minibasic, or when you load a basic program into minibasic? If the latter, what program are you loading? -- Mats __________________ Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them! Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.
matsp is offline

04-29-2009, 02:07 AM	#318
matsp Kernel hacker Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Farncombe, Surrey, England Posts: 15,686	I downloaded the zip-file onto my work-machine, and although I haven't got any basic file to load into it, it certainly works as far as getting a "Ready" prompt, and a 10 Print "Hello, World" works fine too. -- Mats __________________ Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them! Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.
matsp is offline

04-29-2009, 09:18 AM	#320
Paul Panks Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 76	Now it works. Paul
Paul Panks is offline

04-29-2009, 10:31 AM	#321
Sebastiani Guest Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 5,034	OK, good. Let us know if you find any bugs or have any problems with it.
Sebastiani is offline

04-30-2009, 05:21 PM	#322
matsp Kernel hacker Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Farncombe, Surrey, England Posts: 15,686	I've just updated the code quite dramatically. I'm not sure at this point if I've broken something - running pitman in game-mode seems to work correctly. -- Mats __________________ Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them! Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.
matsp is offline

04-30-2009, 05:30 PM	#323
Sebastiani Guest Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 5,034	Alright. I'm tied up in a project at the moment, but as soon as I have a chance I'll check it out.
Sebastiani is offline

05-05-2009, 01:30 PM	#324
Paul Panks Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 76	Looks good. Paul
Paul Panks is offline

05-08-2009, 07:40 AM	#327
Sebastiani Guest Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 5,034	>> How's the port coming along? I was actually waiting to see if you had found any bugs or missing features. If not, I suppose we can make a final release out of it, but I just wanted to make sure that everything was working properly before doing that.
Sebastiani is offline

05-08-2009, 09:00 PM	#328
Paul Panks Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 76	Yes, it is working fine. Paul
Paul Panks is offline

05-11-2009, 03:56 PM	#330
Sebastiani Guest Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 5,034	No, there have been some changes since the last release, so I'll try to post the newest one sometime near the end of the week (assigned with a 2.0 version number).
Sebastiani is offline

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