Yeah, me too ... oops! ;)
It has been so many years since I even thought about BASIC ... I'm not
sure I would have a good recomendation for a book. I learned BASIC in
1977 when I was 12 standing at a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1, reading the
BASIC for beginners book they had sitting next the the computer (which
had a whopping 4K RAM). My parents were checking out the (then) newly
built mall in Florence KY ... I never made it past the 2nd store (Radio
Shack) and I stood there for 5 hours playing with the Model 1. I was
hooked from that point on.
Ken
On 1/6/20 4:22 PM, John R. Hogerhuis wrote:
On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 4:01 PM James Zeun <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
As cool as Google is, you know neither of you actually suggested a
programming book :-P
I'm hoping for hints, help, suggestions guys lol
Oops, sorry about that.
The way I learned was from the "Getting Started with Color BASIC"
manual for the Color Computer. It was really fun and easy.
You could learn from the Model 100 manual, it has has all the commands
described. But it is not as easy. If I recall correctly it's more of a
dictionary of commands than a tutorial on BASIC.
I think the thing for the Model 100 is the Lien book
https://archive.org/details/Model_100_Portable_Computer_Learners_Manual_1983_Compusoft_Publishing
You could go through the whole thing from the beginning or start in
the BASIC section.
You're on the right track though, in my opinion. You're not thinking
about programming so much as what you want to accomplish functionality
wise.
Maybe flesh out your goal as to how you want the program to function,
and then we can guide you to syntax and concepts you will need.
In general, programming comes down to understanding:
a) Storage / Variables
b) Sequential flow of control (one statement executing after another)
c) Conditional control flow (alternate statements being executed
depending on conditions)
d) Loops
e) Data structures
f) Input/Output
As a fun-down learning approach most programmers start with I/O. Print
statements, graphics, sound commands, sending data in and out of
ports, controlling lights and motors.
10 PRINT"I'M A PROGRAMMING GOD";
20 GOTO 10
In BASIC, each program line starts with a "line number". This is the
order in which BASIC will run your code unless you give it commands to
the contrary. And each line consists of one or more program
"statements" or instructions telling the computer what to do next is
it executes your program.
For a first version of your program, let's do a simplified program
specification.
Clear the screen
Pick a random number between 1-20
Print it out
Pick another random number between 1-20
Print it out
The commands to research are
CLS
RND
PRINT
No loops or variables or anything complicated here. The simplest
possible (and least flexible) version of your program specification.
-- John.
