[comp.sys.mac.programmer] BASIC advice sought

dhoerl@cbnewsm.att.com (david.f.hoerl) (08/28/90)

I'm in the process of helping someone move from programmable calculators
to the world of Mac. This person is starting with the CCS2 programmable 
calculator program, but would like to move "on". C or Pascal is beyond
this person at this point, but I think that BASIC might be OK. What's
important is access to floating point (SANE extended) math and the abilty
to call lots of previously defined subroutines.

Would anyone who has any experience with Mac based BASIC packages please
respond. I'll summarize if I get enough information to summarize. Thanks.

David Hoerl
AT&T Bell Laboratories

kent@circus.camex.com (Kent Borg) (08/30/90)

In article <1990Aug28.023503.7036@cbnewsm.att.com> dhoerl@cbnewsm.att.com (david.f.hoerl) writes:
>I'm in the process of helping someone move from programmable calculators
>to the world of Mac. This person is starting with the CCS2 programmable 
>calculator program, but would like to move "on". C or Pascal is beyond
>this person at this point, but I think that BASIC might be OK. What's
>important is access to floating point (SANE extended) math and the abilty
>to call lots of previously defined subroutines.

Consider HyperCard and HyperTalk.  HyperTalk has some real limits, but
so does BASIC.  The advantages are that it is probably about the same
difficulty as BASIC but it lets you at much more of the Mac with a lot
less work.

Some might argue that HyperTalk teaches a few of the concepts of
object-oriented programming.  Particularly when HyperCard 2.0 finally
ships HyperCard becomes much more powerful.


Kent Borg      internet: kent@camex.com    MacNet: kentborg      AOL: kent borg
                                            H:(617) 776-6899  W:(617) 426-3577
"Congress was about to scuttle our defense department ... Could our military 
industrial complex be backing Iraq?"  - my mother, 8-4-90

Mike.Lininger@p1.f200.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Mike Lininger) (09/01/90)

david.f.hoerl writes...

>I'm in the process of helping someone move from programmable calculators
>to the world of Mac. This person is starting with the CCS2 programmable 
>calculator program, but would like to move "on". C or Pascal is beyond
>this person at this point, but I think that BASIC might be OK. What's
>important is access to floating point (SANE extended) math and the abilty
>to call lots of previously defined subroutines.


Kent Borg repies...

KB>  Consider HyperCard and HyperTalk.  HyperTalk has some real limits, 
KB>  but so does BASIC.  The advantages are that it is probably about 
KB>  the same difficulty as BASIC but it lets you at much more of 
KB>  the Mac with a lot less work....

David

   You might want to also take a look at Zedcor's ZBasic.  This package
has all the simplicity of BASIC yet gives full Toolbox control for the
move advanced BASIC programmer.

Mike


 


 
 

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