ZX Spectrum BASIC interpreter rebuilt from scratch to run natively in web browsers
By
Rob Beschizza
Hot, fresh, and worth queueing round the block for.
Summary
A developer has rebuilt the ZX Spectrum's BASIC interpreter from scratch to run in a web browser, without emulating the original Z80 hardware. The article reflects on the nostalgic significance of the ZX Spectrum as a first computer for many, and explains how this new implementation recreates the original BASIC programming experience natively in the browser rather than through hardware emulation.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledMy first computer was a ZX Spectrum, with all of 48 kilobytes of RAM, and as long as it lasted I obsessively typed in BASIC programs to see what I could get it to do.
It was powerful (at least to a child) and expressive, even as it was (even then!) obviously economized to the bone by Sinclair.
The interesting part is that the hardware is not emulated. The browser is not running a Russian doll of software, mapping the traces of a z80
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