Minimal BASIC

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Revision as of 10:53, 3 August 2019 by rosettacode>Scruss (the tiny subset BASIC compatibility language required for US federal purchases of BASIC computer systems)
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Minimal BASIC is a very small subset of the BASIC language. It is specified in ECMA Standard 55, ANSI X3.60-1978 and others. It has a rigorous test suite (initially NBSIR 77-1420 from 1978) to ensure that vendors supplying computer systems to the US Federal government met compatibility guidelines.

The language is very limited:

  • line numbers are required
  • no string manipulation commands
  • all variables must be defined/modified using the LET keyword
  • the only loop structure is FOR … TO … STEP …, with loop parameters fixed at entry
  • all programs must end with an END statement.

Implementations:

Compare with Full BASIC.

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