Comment by mjbrusso
6 years ago
Many Basic implementations had this feature. The SAVE command saves a binary (tokenized) version of the source code. "SAVE file, A" saves in ASCII format.
6 years ago
Many Basic implementations had this feature. The SAVE command saves a binary (tokenized) version of the source code. "SAVE file, A" saves in ASCII format.
The SAVE command in old BASICs used to tokenize the individual BASIC statements and inbuilt functions, eg PRINT, GOTO, CHR$(). It could also tokenize line numbers. But it certainly didn't do things like tokenize a FOR/NEXT loop or anything that went beyond a line break (eg GOSUB/RETURN).
Just typing those words sends me back too many years to a TTY on a PDP11/10 and when you "saved" a program by:
1. Typing LIST but not hitting CR
2. Start the tape punch and press HERE-IS a few times to get a leader
3. Hitting CR
4. Waiting for the listing to finish
5. Hitting HERE-IS a few times to get a trailer
6. Folding the paper tape neatly :)