TPUG (Toronto PET Users Group) is proud to host a casual meeting on November 17th with Dennis Osborn, the creator of the exciting new product Vision BASIC for the Commodore 64. You’re welcomed to attend for free using Zoom, by following the directions at: https://www.tpug.ca
(Moderator’s note: moved here as a follow-up on the previous topic. Was a separate topic before.)
Vision BASIC for Commodore 64 - BLACK FRIDAY SALE
Vision BASIC is on sale for Black Friday / Cyber Monday. Its 1.0e package is regularly priced at US $49, but has been reduced to just US $33 for the sale. For that price, you receive a digital download of the software and FREE worldwide shipping of the 318-page physical manual.
This development tool gives you over 100 new BASIC commands for bitmap graphics, sprites, characters, sound, and interrupts. It also provides an enhanced programming environment with features such as memory management, line renumbering, and auto-insertion of REM statements. Plus, you can seamlessly mix BASIC code with assembly language, with everything compiled into very fast machine language.
If you don’t have an actual Commodore 64, that’s OK because this software can run in VICE - Versatile Commodore Emulator.
In terms of offering a whole slew of new BASIC commands, yes. But Vision BASIC goes way beyond Simons’ BASIC.
In its normal form, Simons’ BASIC is interpreted BASIC, so programs still run slow. But with Vision BASIC, every program is compiled - you don’t even have a choice. So every Vision BASIC program runs really fast.
You can compile a Simons’ BASIC program to increase its speed, but the resulting program will still need Simons’ BASIC loaded in order to run. So you can’t give your program to other users unless they also have Simons’ BASIC. In contrast, once you’ve compiled a Vision BASIC program, it can be given to anyone to run - they don’t need to have Vision BASIC loaded.
And as mentioned, Vision BASIC allows you to mix BASIC code with assembly language, in any ratio you want. Examples: