ugBASIC

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RELEASED VERSION 1.17.2

Version 1.17.2 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released.

In addition to containing numerous fixes and corrections for all targets, It features a lot of optimizations, especially on 6809-based targets, and it adds support for custom data type with TYPE instruction.

The PATH data structures can be stored on expansion memory banks, TRAVEL instruction can specify a step, and it adds support for SCREEN HORIZONTAL SCROLL under coco3 and double buffer under 6847 (coco, d32, d64). It adds support for X-PAD (drawing table) under coco, and made DRAW (program) and PLAY (program) multitasking friendly.

In terms of language, support for custom data type has been added by using the BEGIN TYPE instruction, and it has more readable syntax errors, and new instructions have been included: FADE IN / FADE OUT, to make a fade to color or to black; CLS boxed, to clear a specific area of the bitmapped screen.

The compiler has also been improved and optimized, and to8 loader has been moved on higher memory position, to leave more space available for programs. It supports comments during CSV file reading, and the loading of a ASCII only limited font. It enables SCREEN MODE UNIQUE pragma by default, and it adds support for STORAGE under pc128op and to8, directly to memory banks, and it optimizes the PUT IMAGE under pc128op, mo5 and to8. The DEFINE TRANSPARENCY COARSE / PRECISE directive changes the way the transparency is implemented, and it adds support for transparency on 6847 (mode 14 and alike).

New keywords: BEGIN...END TYPE, FADE IN, FADE OUT, VECTOR, LET, CREATE VECTOR, ROTATE VECTOR, X(), Y().

RELEASED VERSION 1.17.1

Version 1.17.1 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released.

In addition to containing numerous fixes and corrections for all targets, DOJO protocol support has been improved, and simplified instructions are now provided for creating rooms and communication channels. DOJO protocol is also available on FujiNet and, in general, for any device that supports serial communications.

New instructions have been included: JMOVE, which allows you to update the coordinates based on the movement of the joystick; BOTTOM and LBOTTOM which allow you to position cursor in the last line of the screen and, optionally, in the first column; VCENTER and VHCENTER, which allow you to print a string in the center of the screen (vertically and also horizontally); RANGE, which allows you to check if a variable is in a range; SLEEP, to wait a certain number of seconds.

In terms of language, it is now possible to define functions (FUNCTION), that is, procedures with parameters and composed of a single expression, which is the result of a calculation. It is also possible, for those hardware that allow it, to obtain the character present in a specific position with the SCREEN and SCREEN$ functions. Furthermore, it is possible to obtain the sum of all the elements of an array with the (ARRAY) SUM command as well as count how many elements have a certain value with (ARRAY) COUNT. It is now possible to limit a DO..LOOP with a WHILE or an UNTIL at the end of the LOOP and, finally, the FLOAT type can also be called SINGLE.

The compiler has also been improved, with some consistency checks and several changes for games written for the BASIC 10 liner contest. In particular, many commands have been made composite and, therefore, abbreviatable with a single instruction, and polymorphism, typical of the BASIC language, is widely supported. Furthermore, where the default value is obvious, it will be possible to omit it (as happens with the JOY or GET commands), and the screen border will always be set to "black", by default.

New keywords: OPEN PORT, CREATE PORT, PUT MESSAGE, GET MESSAGE, PEEK MESSAGE, PING, PORT, SERIAL READ, SERIAL WRITE, SERIAL STATUS, FUNCTION, FIND WIDTH, FIND HEIGHT, SCREEN, ADDC, INKB, PLOTR, JMOVE, FWIDTH, FHEIGHT, BOTTOM, LBOTTOM, RANGE, VCENTER, VHCENTER, ARRAY SUM, SUM, ARRAY COUNT, COUNT, FUJINET OPEN, FUJINET READ, FUJINET WRITE, LOOP UNTIL, LOOP WHILE, SLEEP, SINGLE.

RELEASED VERSION 1.17

Version 1.17 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released.In addition to containing strong optimizations and corrections for all targets, there is a preliminary support for the (classic) Game Boy (gb): it is now possible to compile programs in cartridges, directly usable with this portable console.

For the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 targets, support for multiplexed sprites has been improved, and it is now possible to synchronize on the single line of the vertical blank and load native "SID" audio files. For the TRS-80 Color Computer 3, the graphic resolutions have been reorganized, so that the best ones are always chosen, with respect to the constraints required by the programmer. For the SEGA SC-3000 and SG-1000 targets, the availability of available RAM has been increased, reducing the space occupied by the stack. For all targets without a physical joystick, the possibility of having one emulated via keyboard has been given (a feature that can be disabled by means of the DEFINE JOYSTICK EMULATION directive).
In general, text scrolling is limited to a single console: this allows you to easily create very interesting effects, such as scrolling game maps within a fixed screen. The precision of floating point numbers, for processors that support this type of data, goes up to 24 bits by default: to bring it back to 16 bits, simply use the DEFINE FLOAT PRECISION FAST directive.
The project of integrating Tuned Simons' BASIC into ugBASIC continues, and the ugBASIC syntax has been extended to support compatibility with ATARI BASIC (OPTION DIALECT ATARI BASIC directive). Furthermore, this version defines multiple constants with a single command, implicit array sizing if they are not explicitly defined (OPTION ARRAY SIZE directive) and with the ability to request screen resolutions by constraining only the height or width of the screen (BITMAP ENABLE HEIGHT and BITMAP ENABLE WIDTH). There is no longer a need to introduce an additional loop to call RUN PARALLEL when using the ANIMATION and MOVEMENT constructs, which can now directly use hardware sprites (if available).
Finally, numerous keywords have been added: FILL, JOYDIR, SCALE, OFFSET, MEMCLR, MEMCONT, MEMRESTORE, MEMLEN, MEMDEF, MEMOR, MEMPOS, MEMSAVE, MEMLOAD, MEMPEEK, LEFTW, LEFTB, RIGHTW, RIGHTB, UPW, UPB, DOWNW, DOWNB, GRAPHICS, MOB SET, SPRITE PRIORITY, SPRITE SET, FADE, MMOB.

RELEASED VERSION 1.16.5

Version 1.16.5 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released.In addition to containing strong optimizations and corrections for all targets, there is a preliminary support for automatic animations and synced movements.

Moreover, there are numerous fixes and corrections for the Amstrad CPC 664 and TRS-80 Color Computer 1/2/3 targets have, and the 32-bit division has finally been implemented for the 6809 processor and the code generation for the MOS 6502/6510/8502 has been improved, with a reduced memory footprint. Even more, the MSPRITE command under vic2 supports the duplication of graphic definition, in order to reduce the memory requirements. The MIDI to IMF converter has been improved, with support for volume changing and specific percussion handling and automatic instrument calculation that composition software takes for granted, and improvements have also been made to multitasking interleaving capabilities, which can now also handle "busy" waits, making it even easier to write algorithms. Threads can, among other things, be suspended and resumed with the SUSPEND and RESUME commands.

From this release of ugBASIC, the additional data type IMAGEREF is now available, which allows you to represent an IMAGE, an ATLAS or an entire SEQUENCE parametrically, that is, as a reference to one of the same graphic elements previously loaded. This tool allows you to modify the graphic resources at run time, thus allowing you to create games with great aesthetic variability. A whole set of instructions has been added, to manage (automatically) the animations and movements of graphic elements, taking advantage of the improved multitasking. In particular, the ANIMATE command allows you to activate and drive animations while the program is running, and so does the MOVE command, which allows you to move objects in parallel, even synchronized with the animation. This is a fairly recent feature, which will be improved and extended in future versions. The new PATH data type, together with the TRAVEL instruction, allows you to calculate all the intermediate points of a path between two points, thus allowing you to easily create "programmed paths", such as those associated with graphic adventure animations. These paths are also available on the MOVE statement, to allow you to move elements on defined paths.

Finally, an additional OPTION FINAL RETURN directive has been added, which allows you to generate a subprogram, callable, if the target allows it, from embedded BASIC or in general from the host operating system. Additional pragma DEFINE RESIDENT DETECTION allows to optimize the usage of resident memory, when banking is active. The PRINT RAW is now available, to print characters without escape sequence parsing. It is now possible to indicate whether an array can receive data from expansion memories, with the FOR BANK READ and FOR BANK WRITE options. The conditional compilation has been extended, to support compilation conditional on the presence or absence of hardware sprites (ON SPRITE AVAILABLE / ON SPRITE NOT AVAILABLE). The audio and music assets are now READ ONLY by default, as well as graphical assets on "console" type targets. The "retro compatible hacks" have been updated which ensure that previously written games can run without any issues, although there have been some small changes in the specifications.

RELEASED VERSION 1.16.4

Version 1.16.4 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released.In addition to containing numerous fixes and corrections for all targets, there is a preliminary support for DOJO protocol and TSB Project.

In addition to containing numerous fixes and corrections for all targets, great efforts have been made to optimize the code, in terms of space and speed. In particular, the MOS 6502/6510/8502 and Zilog Z80 processors now produce less code thanks to the improved peephole optimizers, and all compilers removes unused variables and reduce spaces of embedded code. For targets that have memory banks, such as the Commodore 64 REU (c64reu), the Thomson MO6 (pc128op), Thomson TO8 (to8), and the TRS-80 Color Computer 3 (coco3) have automatic loading into the memory banks, even if the resource is not marked as BANKED. This allows a lot of space to be automatically recovered. The available memory for parsing has been increased of a 10x factor, and dynamic strings are more space efficient thanks to string tranpilation.

From this release ugBASIC joins the "TSB Project": this is a github project that will try to port most of the commands and syntax available on Simons' BASIC and TUNED Simons' BASIC directly into ugBASIC. New commands implemented: PLACE, CMOB, MOB ON/OFF, LOOP...EXIT IF...END LOOP, CHECK, ROT, DRAW, CSET, CGOTO, HIRES, MULTI, MOD (as a command), COLOR, WAVE, PAUSE, ENVELOPE, DUP, INST, FILL, CIRCLE, INSERT, DRAW TO, JOY (with TSB convention), %%, $$, CENTER AT, ON KEY, CHAR, PROC, NRM, AT (string swap), KEYGET, PAINT, DO NULL, D.POKE, D.PEEK, REC, BLOCK. The project aims at portability rather than implementation: therefore, you will have access to all the more advanced features, while being able to recompile your Simons' BASIC projects (this is driven by OPTION DIALECT pragma). Moreover, this is the first version to implement the DOJO protocol. The ugBASIC language is now equipped with primitives capable of communicating with an external server, called DOJO, which is a system for creating virtual "game rooms" online.

The behaviour that can be selected with the pragma commands have been extended, and allow you to change many aspects of the language and its features. For example, it is now possible to preserve the palette on Amstrad CPC (cpc) with the PALETTE PRESERVE pragma, and it is possible to enable keyboard / joystick management directly under interrupt, to ensure that the value readings are performed at a constant speed. In this regard, a specific keyboard driver has been implemented for each target, with a support for keyboard queue.

The ZX Spectrum (zx) compiler now emulates key directions using the world wide WASD standard, and random number generation has been made more compatible with other BASICs, if the parameter 0 or 1 is used (RND(0), RND(1)), with "out of the box" generation of floating point numbers between 0.0 and 1.0. Disk image generation for the TRS-80 Color Computer 1/2/3 (coco, coco3) has also been enhanched, along with disk image generation for the C64 with REU memory expansion (c64reu). The DATA instruction is now able to manage binary strings. Finally, from this version onwards, "retro compatible hacks" have been implemented which ensure that previously written games can run without any issues, although there have been some small changes in the specifications.

RELEASED VERSION 1.16.3

Version 1.16.3 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released.In addition to containing numerous fixes and corrections for all targets, there is a preliminary support for multiplexed sprites under vic2.

Moreover, there are many space optimization techniques, and support for analogic joystick has been added. It is now possible to suggest the start address for program, using the DEFINE PROGRAM START pragma, and to differentiate procedures if a joystick is not present.

RELEASED VERSION 1.16.2

Version 1.16.2 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released.In addition to containing numerous fixes and corrections for all targets, there is a preliminary support for audio on TRS-80 Color Computer target and the support for Thomson TO8 is no more in beta stage.

Moreover, the support for Thomson MO5 has been extended, to support seamlessy MEMO5 expansion memory and, finally, for Thomson MO6 / Olivetti Prodest PC128, the support for scanline waiting has been added to WAIT VBL instruction.

New instructions has been added: CONSOLE, CONSOLE SAVE, CONSOLE USE commands has been added, to have up to four different virtual consoles; CLINE command has been extended, to support graphical modes; ENABLE INTERRUPT / DISABLE INTERRUPT, that are able to enable or disable interrupts at CPU level; COMBINE NIBBLE, that can combine two 4 bit values in a single 8 bit value; LINE, as alias of DRAW, but with a more standard BASIC compatible syntax; PLAY, to play a string as a music; DEFINE AUDIO TARGET and DEFINE AUDIO SYNC / ASYNC pragmas, to select the output for audio and synchronized play; the BIT data type has been optimized; WRITING instruction has been deprecated, and not more supported.

Even more, the UGBASIC-IDE application has been improved, with the correction of autocompletion and the introduction of the "time machine": this is a mechanism with which it will be possible to locally manage the space occupied by the various compilers, and the related versioning. It will be possible to download, remotely, the versions archived in the last two years. Thanks to specific encryption verification mechanisms (accessible at each compiler level), the consistency of the executables is guaranteed at each download. Furthermore, it is now possible to set up novelty detection at the level of HOTFIX / COLDFIX, and not just entire versions. It will therefore not be necessary to keep an eye on the Facebook group to find out about the updates, which will be presented on the wizard, specially revised and updated.

The IDE is now able to collect, on its own, any problems that arise and inform the author of ugBASIC, with the user's authorization. You will also be able to configure the editor to compile individual targets, converting the menu selection to a single button selection, and set the size of the memory expansion for use with the emulator for Commodore 64 computers (with REU), Thomson MO5 and Thomson TO8.

RELEASED VERSION 1.16.1

Version 1.16.1 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released. In addition to presenting many bug fixes from the last published version, it features support for the Thomson TO8 (to8) target. It is currently in beta stage. more...

For Olivetti Prodest PC128 the memory management has been enhanced, to leave more memory available, and for Commodore 64 + REU the banked access on vic2 has been optimized. In general, the code generated has been space reduced, the array can be stored on banks and flipping of images using FLIP IMAGE command has been introduced, in order to reduce the memory footprints for graphical images.

The version added the support for sound card based on SN76489 on Olivetti Prodest PC128 and TRS-80 Color Computer 1, 2 and 3 (by using the GMC cartidge), both for direct sounds (like sound effects) and for background music, also banked on external memory with the BANKED keyword, if available. A way to play native PSG files has been added, as well. From this point on, the static and dynamic hardware integration and configuration will be available directly from ugBASIC by using the CONFIGURATION instruction.

Floating point routines on MOROTOLA 6809 and MOS 6502/6510 has been enhanced with the EXP and LOG instructions. Added instructions VARBANKPTR and VARBANK, to allow access to banked memory.

RELEASED VERSION 1.16

Version 1.16 of ugBASIC and UGBASIC-IDE has just been released. In addition to presenting many bug fixes from the last published version, it features support for the Commodore 64 + REU (c64reu) target. more...

The handling of integers (variable and constants) has been improved, with a deep optimization of implicit conversions and on unused temporary variables, and an improvement of up to 30% in the size of the final executable, with the same source. Moreover, there are no more limits in number of frames for LOAD IMAGES / LOAD SEQUENCE.

Improved PAL/NTSC detection, with the possibility of obtaining information at runtime and to wait for a specific raster line using WAIT VBL, as well as the possibility of knowing whether you are operating with a LITTLE ENDIAN or BIG ENDIAN system. Now it is possible to redefine, at run time, the characters of the font loaded via the DEFDGR command, as well as load an external one with the LOAD FONT command.

The management of constant values has been extended, to allow the definition of string constants by juxtaposition of string constants, as well as the generation of strings of repeating zeros. This new ability, combined with the ability to define IMAGE / IMAGES / SEQUENCE starting from strings, makes it possible to participate in programming competitions where it is necessary to be able to draw nice graphics without being able to load them from storage media.

It is now possible disable and re-enable multitasking using FORBID and ALLOW keywords to (RE)SPAWN a set of threads at the same time, assigning the handle of each of them to an element of a previously declared array, and to KILL threads in the very same way. The SOUND command has been extended to allow you to output a sequence of sounds with a single instruction.

The current version adds support for the TRS-80 Color Computer 3 (coco3) and is able to generate disk images for ATARI, MSX and Commodore VIC-20. Further optimizations have been introduced in the generated code, in particular for CPU Z80. Several commands have been added, and there is also better compatibility with 1980s BASIC syntax. Moreover, it can load and save data to mass storage.

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The current version adds preliminary support for inline assembly, software for map tiling, system calls, the floating point data type, for the Commodore 128 target with the Zilog Z80 processor and for graphics blitting operations. Further optimizations have been introduced in the generated code, in particular for the Olivetti Prodest PC128 home computers, which is now able to handle banking at the single frame level instead of the whole image, and for the COCO TRS-80 computer, which can now make use of almost all available memory, including that under the ROM banks.

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Happy birthday ugBASIC! Today (24/04) we celebrate two years since the first commit, and with this milestone in mind let's take a look at some of the results obtained by the development team.

From a qualitative point of view, the system supports as many as 26 heterogeneous systems, ranging from ATARI to Olivetti Prodest, passing through MSX, TRS-80 and, obviously, Commodore computers. A dedicated page takes into account the actual list of supported targets.

From a quantitative point of view, ugBASIC is composed of over 156,000 lines of C code and about 43,000 lines of assembly code (MOS 6502, Zilog Z80 and Motorola 6809), where the lexer and the parser occupy 7,559 lines!

For published data: generated using David A. Wheeler's 'SLOCCount'

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The current version (1.13.1) introduces support for Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer.

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The version (1.12.1) introduces support for Amstrad CPC 664 target.

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The version 1.11.2 introduces support for audio and the Commodore 128 target.

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Happy birthday ugBASIC! Today (25/04) we celebrate one year since the first commit, and with this milestone in mind let's take a look at some of the results obtained by the development team.

From a qualitative point of view, the system supports as many as 14 heterogeneous systems, ranging from ATARI to Olivetti Prodest, passing through MSX and, obviously, Commodore computers.

From a quantitative point of view, ugBASIC is composed of over 137,000 lines of C code and over 36,000 lines of assembly code (MOS 6502, Zilog Z80 and Motorola 6809), where the lexer and the parser occupy 6,408 lines!

Following the sizing indicated by the "COCOMO model", to redevelop ugBASIC from scratch it would take 55 man-months or, if you like, two and a half years of development. Alternatively, having 22 developers, it would be done in a year.

For published data: generated using David A. Wheeler's 'SLOCCount'

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The version 1.10.3 introduces support for SEGA SC-3000 home computer and SG-1000 console.

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The version 1.9.1 introduces support for ColecoVision console architecture.

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An interesting competition is held at the beginning of each year: the BASIC 10Liner Contest, and it is possible to use ugBASIC to join in the next competition with your preferred home computer.

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The version 1.8.2 introduces support for MSX home computer architecture.

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The version 1.7.2 introduces various improvements and bug fixes.

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A brand new IDE has been released for ugBASIC: ugBASIC IDE makes it easier to download and install the various software required for one or more retrocomputers, all just one "click away". It offers syntactic highlighting, multiple windows, file history, online help and an integration for error diagnostics. With just one click you can see your program running directly on one of the supported emulators.

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The current version (1.6) introduces various improvements and bug fixes.

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The version 1.5 introduces support for Commodore VIC-20, film strip animations and multitasking.

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The version 1.4 introduces support for Olivetti PC128 Prodest and Thomson MO5 computer.

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The version 1.3.2-beta introduces various improvements and bug fixes.

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The version 1.3.1-beta introduces various improvements and bug fixes.

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The version 1.3-beta introduces support for Dragon 32 computer.

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The version (1.2-beta) introduces various improvements and bug fixes.

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The version 1.1-beta introduces support for the Atari 8-bit family of computers, such as Atari 400/800, Atari 600XL / 800XL / 1200XL and XEGS.

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WHAT IS ugBASIC?

Supported CPUs

Supported targets (more...)

Supported chain tools

Games written with ugBASIC (more...)

MOTOSIS

Pushori

Donkey Kong

SOKO64+

The Savage Sword of COCON

Creepy Carrots

Some features and examples (more...)

Rapid development

Fast animations

Fast drawing

Console support

Strong optimizations

Memory expansions support

Native multitasking

Download the compiler

Documentation and manuals

An integrated IDE*

Your programs in a click!

Media coverage (more...)

Un shoot horizontal en basic sur Thomson ? C'est pas possible

Motosis - Horizontal STG for Thomson MO6 and TO8 - Made with ugBasic 1.17

Serata "ugBASIC" / Programmazione * LIVE

ugBASIC - Una nuova era per la programmazione