ANTIC Interview 451 - Daniel Serpell, FastBasic
Update: 2024-12-30
Description
Daniel Serpell (dmsc), Creator of FastBasic
Daniel Serpell (dmsc) is the creator of FastBasic, a modern implementation of the BASIC programming language for the Atari 8-bit computers. He released the first version to the public in 2017. Today, the GPL-licensed language is up to version 4.6, and is a favorite of 10-line BASIC game contest entrants and anyone who wants a speedy, modern take on Atari programming.
I'm going to crib from AtariWiki's description of FastBasic: "It is a complete re-implementation of the BASIC system, using a built-in bytecode compiler rather than a tokenizing interpreter. Typical BASICs use an interpreter that examines every line of code as the program runs. ... FastBasic works on an entirely different principle. When a line is parsed in FastBasic, it (essentially) compiles the entire line into tokens and then leaves them in memory. This way the line does not have to be repeatedly parsed, even from the simplified token format, which makes it much faster to run."
FastBasic has other enhancements, including new commands for player-missiles and communicating with FujiNet, an option to only use faster integer math instead of floating point, and structured programming instead of line numbers.
This interview took place on December 21, 2024.
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