Completing a BASIC Language Interpreter for the 1983 Mattel ECS Intellivision Add-on
By
nanochess
Baker's choice. Dense with flavour, light on filler.
Summary
The author completes their BASIC language interpreter project for the 1983 Mattel ECS add-on for Intellivision by implementing string functionality, specifically adding support for A$ and B$ strings with GET and PUT operations. This follows their previous article about developing the interpreter and addresses the missing string capabilities that were present in the original ECS BASIC. The article details the technical implementation process and the goal of creating a faster replacement for the slow original Mattel ECS BASIC interpreter.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledAlthough my interpreter was already pretty fast and with enough statements to build games, I wasn't satisfied because it still missed one thing that the ECS BASIC implements: strings.
Only two, A$ and B$, with GET and PUT, for things like getting a name from the keyboard or showing a name.
I thought about strings for four days, then I decided to code things like I know what I was doing.
Completing a BASIC language interpreter in 2025 for replacing the very slow Mattel ECS BASIC for Intellivision.
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