BASIC Programming
| Basic Programming | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Warren Robinett |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Designer(s) | Warren Robinett |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release | 1979 |
BASIC Programming (Model# CX2620) attempted to teach simple computer programming on the Atari 2600. It was released in 1979, and it was one of only a few non-gaming cartridges ever designed for the 2600. The programming language was superficially similar to dialects of BASIC, but differed in many important aspects. The extremely small RAM size of the Atari 2600, 128 bytes, severely restricted the possibilities of this cartridge for writing programs.
The BASIC Programming display was divided into six regions:
Input is given through two Atari keypad controllers, which came with special overlays to show how to type the different commands and letters. Programs were restricted to 64 characters in size and 9 lines of code, severely limiting the programs that could be written. Users could disable all windows except Program and keep selecting "New Line" until over nine empty lines had been entered and thus their program could use 11 lines of code using this trick.
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