8-bit BASIC virtual machine?

Software
,
83

After considering the posts here and the results of my own research, I have come up with a possible route to take:-

  • Install ACK and experiment with it for a while
  • Add a couple of new Z80 computers
  • Add the Dragon 32 as a 6809 computer
  • Add a structured version of BASIC to the existing languages
  • Add a DSL to the existing languages
  • Add a standalone VM for a Z80 computer to the back end
  • Compare that VM against compiled programs for that platform
  • Add new VMs if there is an advantage to doing so

The first two steps need to be done in that order, but I can probably take a “suck it and see” approach to the rest.

The main reasons I decided to use ACK is that it already does a lot of what I want, and it’s a tried and tested toolchain with an existing (simple) BASIC front end.

It is also already used by programs such as CROSS-LIB, so any additions to ACK could benefit those too.

David Given (the maintainer of ACK) is currently working on a ZX Spectrum compiler configuration, so that should be a good reference.

He also implemented most of a code generator and interpreter for a p-code system a while back, so that might also help if he can find the code again.

Can anyone see any obvious flaws in my outline or suggest any additions to it?

1 Like
84

I had never seen that MZ-80 BASIC manual before, well never owned a MZ-80, but I had MZ-700s and MZ-800s, and yes indeed the manual is glorious – and now I understand the Greek ship present in many of the demos!

85

BTW, I have been looking for the English edition of the MZ-80 BASIC manual (there must have been one, as the machine was sold in Europe and especially in the UK), but to no avail.
(If anyone has this and could contribute a scan to archive.org, this would be great.)

1 Like
86

My MZ-700 BASIC manual was a translated one, probably had been translated to Finnish from an English one by the importer (a small electronics company that also imported Sharp calculators). Not certain they sold MZ-80 in Finland, though I vaguely remember seeing brochures, so may be they did.

1 Like
87

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=186321517577&rt=nc&_ssn=mzstuff7

The guy who is selling them (he has multiple copies) says he’ll later set up an online copy.

1 Like