Mike Westerfield

Hi folks,

I'm pretty excited about techBASIC, a direct descendent of GSoft BASIC
for the Apple IIGS.

You may remember GSoft BASIC. It was the last programming language I
wrote for the Apple IIGS. While an interpreter, it works from the ORCA
environment and has complete access to the Apple IIGS toolbox. And
it's back--to help kick off the new implementation of techBASIC, I'm
releasing the full version of GSoft BASIC free. You can download it
from the Byte Works web site at www.byteworks.us.

GSoft BASIC went through two more generations. It became a compiler
when it was moved over for use as a scripting language in MediaBlender
(www.tech4learning.com/mediablender) and AVERT (http://
www.arescorporation.com/security/).

Now it's moved to iOS, running on the iPad, iPhone and iPod under iOS
5. This version adds advanced matrix commands that Bill Gates decided
to leave out of BASIC, so most people who use BASIC don't know they
were a part of the original language. You can, for example, add or
multiply a matrix the same way you add or multiply a number, and use
functions like INV, which returns the inverse of a matrix. techBASIC
also has methods to access the accelerometer, gyroscope and
magnetometer, and can return the location and heading. Think of all of
the cool things you can do with that--I'm getting ready to fasten my
iPhone to a stunt kite to see what the G forces and rotation rates
are!

techBASIC also has some really cool graphics built in. And, since they
re created on an iOS device, you can pan, zoom and rotate the results.
There are a lot of examples at www.byteworks.us.

I know a lot of you will be glad to play with a descendent of an Apple
IIGS programming language. If you have questions, or when Lubarsky's
Law of Cybernetic Entomology gets hold, you can reach me through the
support e-mail address on the web site. If you find issues or things
you'd like to see, be sure and drop me a note. If you find things you
like, I'd sure appreciate a thoughtful review on iTunes.

The Apple II crowd is a pretty creative group. I'm really looking
forward to seeing what you guys do with this program.

Mike Westerfield
www.byteworks.us

Antoine Vignau

Wouah, Mike, that is great news. Thanks for that!
Antoine

PZ

Thanks Mike! Does this mean that "Learn to Program in GSoft Basic" is
released as well?

Also what are the chances that you code for BASIC compilation that you
implemented in MediaBlender can be released if it would be feasible to
allow GSoft to create REAL compiled executables. I think that someone
might be interested in making a compiler if the process was easy.

Thank you again!
- Paul

On Oct 13, 10:34*am, Mike Westerfield <Mike...@aol.com> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm pretty excited about techBASIC, a direct descendent of GSoft BASIC
> for the Apple IIGS.
>
> You may remember GSoft BASIC. It was the last programming language I
> wrote for the Apple IIGS. While an interpreter, it works from the ORCA
> environment and has complete access to the Apple IIGS toolbox. And
> it's back--to help kick off the new implementation of techBASIC, I'm
> releasing the full version of GSoft BASIC free. You can download it
> from the Byte Works web site atwww.byteworks.us.
>
> GSoft BASIC went through two more generations. It became a compiler
> when it was moved over for use as a scripting language in MediaBlender
> (www.tech4learning.com/mediablender) and AVERT (http://www.arescorporation.com/security/).
>
> Now it's moved to iOS, running on the iPad, iPhone and iPod under iOS
> 5. This version adds advanced matrix commands that Bill Gates decided
> to leave out of BASIC, so most people who use BASIC don't know they
> were a part of the original language. You can, for example, add or
> multiply a matrix the same way you add or multiply a number, and use
> functions like INV, which returns the inverse of a matrix. techBASIC
> also has methods to access the accelerometer, gyroscope and
> magnetometer, and can return the location and heading. Think of all of
> the cool things you can do with that--I'm getting ready to fasten my
> iPhone to a stunt kite to see what the G forces and rotation rates
> are!
>
> techBASIC also has some really cool graphics built in. And, since they
> re created on an iOS device, you can pan, zoom and rotate the results.
> There are a lot of examples atwww.byteworks.us.
>
> I know a lot of you will be glad to play with a descendent of an Apple
> IIGS programming language. If you have questions, or when Lubarsky's
> Law of Cybernetic Entomology gets hold, you can reach me through the
> support e-mail address on the web site. If you find issues or things
> you'd like to see, be sure and drop me a note. If you find things you
> like, I'd sure appreciate a thoughtful review on iTunes.
>
> The Apple II crowd is a pretty creative group. I'm really looking
> forward to seeing what you guys do with this program.
>
> Mike Westerfieldwww.byteworks.us

Mike Westerfield

On Oct 16, 10:01*am, PZ <skierp...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks Mike! *Does this mean that "Learn to Program in GSoft Basic" is
> released as well?

I had not done that yet, but I will be happy to do so. Look for it
this week on our web site.

> Also what are the chances that you code for BASIC compilation that you
> implemented in MediaBlender can be released if it would be feasible to
> allow GSoft to create REAL compiled executables. *I think that someone
> might be interested in making a compiler if the process was easy.

I'm not planning to release the compiled version from MediaBlender.
That compiler is written in Java. It would definitely not be easy to
port it back to the Apple IIGS.

This version has been licensed as a scripting language, though. If you
have a Java-based application that needs a BASIC scripting language,
get in touch. It's definitely not free, but I'd be happy to work with
anyone who wants to get it into their application.

And of course, if you have an iPhone or iPad, there is always
techBASIC.

Mike

Mike Westerfield

On Oct 17, 7:06*am, Mike Westerfield <Mike...@aol.com> wrote:
> On Oct 16, 10:01*am, PZ <skierp...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Thanks Mike! *Does this mean that "Learn to Program in GSoft Basic" is
> > released as well?
>
> I had not done that yet, but I will be happy to do so. Look for it
> this week on our web site.

Learn to Program in GSoft BASIC is now on the Byte Works web site
(www.byteworks.us). Enjoy!

Mike Westerfield

Wholly Mindless

Mike Westerfield wrote:
> Learn to Program in GSoft BASIC is now on the Byte Works web site
> (www.byteworks.us). Enjoy!
>
> Mike Westerfield

Thanks Mike. It's really kind of you to make this info available to all in
an unambiguous legal way. I purchased "Opus II" through Syndicomm and have
been delighted with it and the thoughtful touches included - such as a 32
meg disk image with all the tools ready to go for an emulator - or with a
CFFA3000.

Thanks again!

--
Wholly