Editing True BASIC (section)

==Features==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2018}}

Being a [[structured programming]] implementation of the language, it dispenses with the need for [[line number]]s and <code>[[GOTO]]</code> statements, although these can still be used.

True BASIC provides statements for [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrix]] arithmetic, a feature that had been present in Dartmouth BASIC since early times, but had been dropped in almost all [[microcomputer]] versions of [[BASIC interpreter]]s. It implements [[global variable|global]] and [[local variable]]s which make it possible to write [[Recursion#Functional recursion|recursive]] functions and [[subroutine]]s.

The designers wanted to make the language hardware-independent, so True BASIC [[source code]] would run equally well on any version of their compiler.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} For the most part, they succeed in this endeavor. The drawback for users was that direct access to some features of their machines was not available, but this could be remedied with callable functions and subroutines specially written in [[assembly language]].

Using newer versions of True BASIC, some of the older functions are blocked out. An example of the recent code would be more like this:

<syntaxhighlight lang="basic">
RANDOMIZE
SET WINDOW 0,20,0,20
SET COLOR 5 !Set the pen and text colour to 5 as true basic has 0-15 colours
PRINT "Welcome To ..." !Print "Welcome To ..." on the user's screen.
 
DO !Begin the loop
    LET x=rnd*20 !Let the value 'x' equal a random number between '0' and '20'
    LET y=rnd*20 !Let the value 'y' equal a random number between '0' and '20'
    Pause .1 !Waits 1/10 of a second
    PLOT TEXT, at x, y: "Fabulous Wikipedia!" !Plot 'Fabulous Wikipedia!' at coordinates 'x' and 'y'
LOOP !End the loop
 
END !End the program
</syntaxhighlight>

This simple program plots the text "Welcome To ..." at the top left-hand corner of the screen, and then continues into a never-ending loop plotting "Fabulous Wikipedia!" at random coordinates.

An example of simple animation could be like this:

<syntaxhighlight lang="basic">
!Draw the Car
SET WINDOW 0,20,0,20
SET COLOR 5
BOX AREA 2,6,2,3
BOX AREA 9,13,2,3
BOX AREA 16,20,2,3
SET COLOR 249
PLOT LINES :0,5;20,5
FLOOD 10,1
BOX KEEP 0,20,0,5 IN road$
BOX CIRCLE 2,3,5,6
FLOOD 2.5,5.5
BOX CIRCLE 5,6,5,6
FLOOD 5.5,5.5
SET COLOR 35
PLOT LINES :2.5,6;5.5,6
PLOT LINES :5,6;8,6;8,8;6,8;6,10;2,10;2,8;0,8;0,6;3,6
FLOOD 4,8
SET COLOR 248
BOX AREA 4,5,8,9
 
BOX KEEP 0,8,5,10 IN car$ !Save the car in 'car$'
  
FOR x=1 TO 20 STEP 1 !Create a 'for' loop
    BOX SHOW road$ AT 0,0
    BOX SHOW car$ AT x,5  
    PAUSE .1
    CLEAR
NEXT x !End the 'for' loop
 
END !End the programs
</syntaxhighlight>