Bbc Basic

BBC BASIC was the version of BASIC implemented on the BbcMicro.

For its time, it was very advanced. It featured a full procedure definition command (rather than the more limited "function" definitions available in LocomotiveBasic), extensibility through the star-command system and complete access to the operating system functions. It was fast enough that it was not unusual for commercial software, including games, to be written in it.

BBC Basic lived on beyond the original machines as an advanced version of it featured on the AcornArchimedes.

-- KatieLucas

If memory serves, BBC Basic came installed on my Cambridge Z-88 tablet computer. Until I finished reading the documentation, I wondered what the British Broadcasting Corporation had to do with a Basic implementation. -- JimRussell

It supported inline assembler by the use of the [ and ] keywords (equivalent to an asm {} block in C), too. I'd never seen inline assembler before that.. -- TorneWuff

Some companies still produce full-blown leading edge commercial products written in the latest variant. Not a GOTO in sight, with full error-handling, functions, procedures, inline assembler and access to a feature-rich operating system in 4MB of ROM. Fastest WIMP desktop I've seen, bar none, even when running on a 200MHz StrongARM. Using right-click can select sub-menu items without closing the menu structure, and the window with focus isn't forced to be on top, allowing you to avoid shuffling the windows constantly. Most productive environment I've ever used (using RISC OS (RiscOs) 3.7 on an Acorn/Castle RiscPC).