SiMPLE

SiMPLE (a recursive acronym for SiMPLE Modular Programming Language & Environment) is a programming development system that was created to provide easy programming capabilities for everybody, especially non-professionals.

The website of SimpleCodeWorks is now unaccessable (dead) and the only way to download the program is off archive.org. The Forums are still alive.

In 1995, Bob Bishop and Rich Whicker, (both former Apple Computer Engineers) decided to create a new programming language that would be easy enough for everyone to understand and use. (They felt that other existing languages such as C++ and their environments were far too complicated for beginners.) The programming language that they created was called SiMPLE.

SiMPLE is vaguely reminiscent of the AppleSoft BASIC programming language that existed on the old Apple-II computers. However, SiMPLE is not (and was never intended to be) merely a "clone" of Applesoft BASIC. It was merely "inspired" by it. There are many features of Applesoft that needed to be improved. For example, Applesoft was an interpreted language, and so it ran somewhat slowly (even for a 1MHZ processor). SiMPLE, on the other hand, compiles into an executable (.EXE) file. So it not only produces programs that run faster, but those programs can even run on computers that don't have SiMPLE installed.

Another difference between the two languages is in the use of line numbers. Applesoft required them; SiMPLE doesn't even use them. (Instead of typing program statements onto the black Apple screen, SiMPLE uses a text editor.) Furthermore the "FOR-NEXT" loops in Applesoft have been replaced by "Do-Loop" instructions in SiMPLE. (But they function in much the same way).

However, aside from a few differences in their outward appearances, writing programs in SiMPLE has a similar "feel" to what one experienced when writing programs in Applesoft. For example, when using SiMPLE in command-line mode, a program is run by simply typing the word "RUN" on a black screen (just as was done on the Apple!)

"Simple" is a generic term for three slightly different versions of the language: Micro-SiMPLE, Pro-SiMPLE, and Ultra-SiMPLE.

(a) Micro-SiMPLE is an introductory programming language designed to use only 4 keywords: Call, Set, If, and Goto. An example of a Micro-SiMPLE program listing (and a snapshot of the output display it generates) is shown in the figure below:

(b) Pro-SiMPLE is the DOS-based version of SiMPLE requiring the use of only 23 keywords. Its graphics capabilities are limited to only 16 colors with a resolution of only 640 x 480 pixels. Its sound capabilities are limited to simple "beeps" through the computer's built-in speaker.

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