Editing Amstrad CPC (section)

==Software==

===BASIC and operating system===
[[File:Amstrad CPC screen closeup.jpg|thumb|right|Locomotive BASIC on the Amstrad CPC 464]]
Like most home computers at the time, the CPC has its [[operating system|OS]] and a [[BASIC interpreter]] built in as [[read-only memory|ROM]]. It uses [[Locomotive BASIC]] - an improved version of Locomotive Software's Z80 BASIC for the [[BBC Micro]] co-processor board. It is particularly notable for providing easy access to the machine's video and audio resources in contrast to the [[PEEK and POKE|POKE]] commands required on generic Microsoft implementations. Other unusual features include timed event handling with the AFTER and EVERY commands, and text-based windowing.

===CP/M===
[[Digital Research]]'s [[CP/M]] operating system was supplied with the 664 and 6128 disk-based systems, and the DDI-1 disk expansion unit for the 464. 64k machines shipped with CP/M 2.2 alone, while the 128k machines also include CP/M 3.1. The compact CP/M 2.2 implementation is largely stored on the boot sectors of a 3" disk in what was called "System format"; typing |CPM from Locomotive BASIC would load code from these sectors, making it a popular choice for custom game loading routines. The CP/M 3.1 implementation is largely in a separate file which is in turn loaded from the boot sector.
Much [[public domain]] CP/M software was made available for the CPC, from word-processors such as VDE to complete bulletin board systems such as ROS.

===Other languages===
Although it was possible to obtain compilers for Locomotive BASIC, [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], the majority of the CPC's software was written in native Z80 [[assembly language]]. Popular assemblers were Hisoft's Devpac, Arnor's Maxam, and (in France) DAMS. Disk-based CPC (not Plus) systems shipped with an interpreter for the educational language [[Logo programming language|LOGO]], booted from CP/M 2.2 but largely CPC-specific with much code resident in the AMSDOS ROM; 6128 machines also include a CP/M 3.1, non-ROM version. A C compiler was also written and made available for the European market through Tandy Europe, by Micro Business products.

===''Roland''===
{{mainarticle|Roland (game character)}}
In an attempt to give the CPC a recognisable mascot, a number of games by Amstrad's in-house software publisher [[Amsoft]] have been tagged with the ''[[Roland (game character)|Roland]]'' name. However, as the games had not been designed around the Roland character and only had the branding added later, the character design varies immensely, from a spiky-haired blonde teenager (''Roland Goes Digging'') to a white cube with legs (''Roland Goes Square Bashing'') or a mutant flea (''[[La Pulga|Roland in the Caves]]''). The only two games with similar gameplay and main character design are ''Roland in Time'' and its sequel ''Roland in Space''. The Roland character was named after Roland Perry, one of the lead designers of the original CPC range.