62 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
62 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
# Luxferre's Truly Tiny BASIC (LTTB) implementations
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## About
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Luxferre's Truly Tiny BASIC (henceforth LTTB) is a lean dialect of the BASIC programming language, originally based upon the [Dennis Allison's design notes for Tiny BASIC](http://www.ittybittycomputers.com/IttyBitty/TinyBasic/DDJ1/Design.html) with some improvements inspired by [Tom Pittman's](http://www.ittybittycomputers.com/IttyBitty/TinyBasic/TBuserMan.htm) 6800 Tiny BASIC variant. Just like the original Tiny BASIC designs, LTTB aims for maximum portability and minimum implementation complexity.
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## Specification
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The LTTB specification expands upon the original Design Notes in the following manner:
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- Line numbers from 1 to 32767 are supported.
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- Any invalid statement (including `REM`) can be used for comments.
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- No command can be abbreviated inside `IF` statements.
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- `LET` and `THEN` keywords are optional.
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- `IF` statements also allow inserting line numbers after `THEN`, making it possible to write self-modifying programs.
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- A special `RND(n)` function is introduced that generates a random number from 0 to `n-1`.
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- The `NEW` command is synonym to `CLEAR`.
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- The `BYE` command can be used to exit the interpreter.
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- In the environments that support file systems or some kind of external file I/O, the `LOAD` command can be used to load BASIC programs into memory, and the `SAVE` command can be used to save BASIC programs from memory.
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See the [manual](lttb-manual.md) for more details on every supported command and the [examples](examples/) directory for working examples.
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If you want to create your own implementation of LTTB, see the [Implementation Notes](lttb-impl-notes.md) document for the details on the internal interpreter workings.
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## Implementations
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Here are all currently known implementations of LTTB:
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* [Jim Tcl port](./lttb.tcl) (284 SLOC)
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## FAQ
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Please read the [manual](lttb-manual.md) first, your question is most likely covered there. If not, here are some more questions and answers.
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### Why make another Tiny BASIC clone in 2026?
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Because it's a 1) great benchmark for any languages I'm currently mastering, 2) way to run vintage software and games, 3) nice practice for classic, hand-crafted coding.
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Besides, the goal is not just to make one implementation and call it a day, but to port it to as many host languages and platforms as possible. I'd even say that eventually the implementations themselves may become more of a byproduct and the main value will reside in the design docs crystallized in the process.
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### Which TB dialects is LTTB compatible with?
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In general, you should be able to run anything compatible with:
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* the original [Design Notes](http://www.ittybittycomputers.com/IttyBitty/TinyBasic/DDJ1/Design.html) by Dennis Allison;
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* the original Tom Pittman's 6800TB (if the program doesn't have any `USR` calls and has proper spacing between the command and the rest of the statement);
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* the [Damian Gareth Walker's implementation](http://tinybasic.cyningstan.org.uk/), provided all program lines are properly numbered (because that implementation uses auto–numbering when loading the programs).
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### Will there be any TBX (Tiny BASIC Extended) or PATB (Palo Alto Tiny BASIC) compatibility?
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No way.
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### But are the existing implementations really tiny?
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I think 300 SLOC of Jim Tcl for the entire interpreter (including the banner etc) is pretty tiny. Other implementations are also projected to be within this ballpark.
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## Credits
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Inspired by the great works of Dennis Allison and Tom Pittman.
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All LTTB implementations in this repo were created by Luxferre in 2026 and released into the public domain with no warranties.
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