On Sep 3, 1:08 am, Happy Trails <nom...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Did you delete the [ANN] or did your newsreader/poster do that?
Google Groups deletes the [ANN].
> > Incidentally in BBC BASIC GOTOs are quite slow.
> Is this for some real reason, or is this something you have done to
> purposely discourage their use?
Not purposely to discourage their use, no. The short reason is that
BB4W is an interpreter. The long reason is that using a line-number
destination involves scanning the program to find that line, and using
a label destination involves a variable lookup. REPEAT..UNTIL and
WHILE..ENDWHILE loops have no such overhead, because the 'destination'
is available on the stack (with the exception of the case when the
*initial* WHILE condition is false).
> 3 - what does this mean exactly? Do you mean if I "include" some
> code, it cannot have any labels in it? But it can have line numbers?
It can have neither. 'Installed' library modules in BBC BASIC are
discontinuous with the main program and neither line numbers nor
labels work there. You won't be surprised to learn that I don't
consider that to be a significant limitation, but you may disagree.
> Since you do allow labels, I will spend more time reading the manual,
> and as you suggest, d/l a trial.
You won't find labels mentioned in the manual, since so many existing
users disapprove of them (I once did a poll of BBC BASIC users on this
question; 72% replied that they didn't want labels). But, to let the
cat out of the bag, the syntax is to include the label in parentheses
thus:
IF condition THEN GOTO label
...
(label)
> Just for fun, how would you compare your product to Powerbasic
Very different animals. PowerBasic, being a true compiler, is much
faster than BB4W in most cases (although there was an occasion when
BB4W was able to outperform a PB program because the writer hadn't
realised he had coded a matrix dot-product - a built-in function in
BBC BASIC!). Where BBC BASIC scores is the IDE, the convenience of
'immediate mode', the straightforward interfacing to the Windows API
etc. BBC BASIC is exceptional in its ability to span the entire range
of applications from the simplest of programs for the complete
beginner to multi-megabyte Windows GUI applications. It is arguable
that in being a Jack of All Trades it is also a Master of None, but it
does command loyal sup****t from its many users.
Do try looking at, and running, some of the pre-compiled programs on
my web site which will give you a general feel for what you can
achieve:
http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcwin/examples/
Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/
To reply by email change 'news' to my forename.
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