#True BASIC Worth $15?!?
7 messages in this thread
Hi, I'm looking for opinions on TRUE BASIC, which was advertized and
reviewed in AMAZING COMPUTING this past month. Apparently, the company is
offering the language system for just $15 for a limited time, and I was
wondering if anyone has experience with TRUE BASIC, and whether it is
actually worth $15… (What I mean is, is a a powerful enough language
that I would use it often, and perhaps upgrade to the more advanced
libraries / subroutines).
I don't program for a living, and I realize the big thing these days is
"C". However, since I have a 3000, I have ARexx and no other programming
language. Would TRUE BASIC fit the bill as an easy to learn & use,
powerful, flexible language? The review was very positive..and for
$15….Any opinions?
–via AutoPilot
— Dave
I used true basic back in 88 and still use the programs. At the time, the
problems were that it opened its screen on the workbench without
the paging icons in the corners. I used a screen switching/hot keys
program to get over this. The other problem was that the serial port
wasn't supported. But it is very easy to use, and there are plenty of libs
that you can get (you can compile your own subroutines into a
library). Anyway, even though I am using CANDO for my programing, I did
order the TB offer for 15$.
I already know many different "flavors" of BASIC and need a language for
my Amiga to knock out some programs in a short amount of time. C is not
the language for quick development.
I've never used True Basic myself but here are a few comments. I asked
them for more information and they put me on their mailing list for their
quarterly newsletter.
TB is available for a wide variety of machines but appears to be the most
popular on the PC and the MacIntosh. TB is supposed to be transportable
across the entire line of supported platforms, this may be an issue if you
want to sell an application to a variety of markets but especially in
schools where TB appears to be very popular.
The developer versions of TB for the PC and Mac appear to be very
powerful. I asked about developer support for the Amiga. They said that
response from the Amiga market in the past has been less than expected and
that future support will depend on how the new Student Edition is
received.
I contacted their tech support staff via CIS and was impressed with the
quality of the response to my questions, they even went so far as to go
out of their way to look up some additional documentation on their product
and send it to me (it was for the PC but they told me which sections
applied to the Amiga).
I encourage you to call them and get copies of their latest few
newsletters.
I am going to purchase a copy of the Student Edition ($15.00) of TB for
the Amiga to show my support for the Amiga market and I encourage you to
do so as well. $15.00 is NOT a lot of money to spend to show that the
Amiga market can support a product such as TB.
-J (Wandering around on AutoPilot)
Jay: Thanks for your input… I finally decided, after reading the review
and talking to a few people, that $15 is really a good deal for the
package. I was worried that the product was a very simple one, based
strictly on the introductory price, but apparently, it is a rather
powerful language. It might just be what I'm looking for — between ARexx
and True Basic, I would have a great amout of flexibility for writing
applications. For $15, it seems I can't go wrong; heck I've spent that
much on things that are a LOT more trivial….
BTW, I agree with your encouragement for TB to support the Amiga market
fully. When I called them to order the "Student Edition", which basically
is the entire package, I'm told, minus the "binding" utility and certain
developer's tools, they were extremely friendly and helpful in responding
to my questions. I really appreciate dealing with a company like that. I
hope they really DO decide to fully support the Amiga.
Thanks again for your help! I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of TB
sometime this week or next….
— AutoPilot Engaged…
— Dave
You might want to take a look at the file TBASIC.LZH in Lib 4 of
AMIGATECH. According to the description, this is the un-abridged version
of the Amazing Amiga review plus a comparison of C vs. BASIC programming
on the Amiga.
-J (Wandering around on AutoPilot)