🕹️ Commando Jump - BASIC Type-In Listing #1
The golden age of type-in programs
In the 80s, for many of the home computer users, this was the cheapest and sometimes also the only way to get additional software for the newly purchased machine.
Magazines such as ANALOG Computing or in Europe Happy Computer dedicated much of each issue to type-in programs. Most listings were either in BASIC or machine code, but the user had to spend up to several hours typing each one in.
This era ended mostly with the end of the 8-bit computers. Later home computers such as the Amiga and Atari ST came already with floppy discs and so it became common to include a disk with each issue of a magazine.
But also a lot of the computer books from that time are just filled with listings and some short explanations.
While it was very often a pain to type in those listings, more often they also contain failures which makes it many times frustrating. On the other hand
Many learned substantially programming like this. It was not possible to just copy & paste the code and therefore more time to understand the code while type in…
Type-In programs in 2020?
The Classics Coder App brings this experience back to 2020. Of course this time with much more comfort than it was in the past. I will “type-in” by myself on a regulary basis some BASIC or assembler games and apps from the 100’s of retro magazines and books I have in my collection.
Type-In? Not really…
The Classics Coder App contains some super cool features to remove the pain and improve the fun for type-in programs:
- Automatic scan and detection of printed source code listings (supported by machine learning)
- Syntax highlight in editor to simplify learning of the commands
- Automatic error detection and marking (as in a modern IDE)
- Tape loading simulation to test your code immediately in the emulator
And now… enjoy the type-in Listing #1!
Commando Jump
from the Spectrum Book of games
How to play:
On the word “GO”, and no sooner, press any key to make the man jump. The height of the initial jump depends entirely on the delay between the signal appearing on your key press. Test your reaction time!
What’s next?
- Type in your own ZX Spectrum Listings from magazines and books form archive.org
- Wait for the next Type-In Listing at Monday
- Start writing your own BASIC program!