Writing a
Simple BASIC Program:
NEW, LIST, PRINT, RUN
Once you know your way around the computer keyboard, it's easy to
write your first program. To begin, clear the screen and make sure the
cursor is on the left-hand margin.
NEW: CLEARING THE COMPUTER'S MEMORY
Type in the word NEW, then press :
NEW
NEW tells the computer to get ready for a new set of instructions by
erasing any old instructions that might be in the computer's memory.
LIST: CHECKING THE COMPUTER'S MEMORY
To make sure nothing is in the computer's memory, ask the computer
to list any instructions that it might be storing. Type LIST on a line by
itself and press :
LIST
If you typed NEW correctly, nothing appears on your screen. Now you
can begin a new program. Type in the first line of instruction to the
computer. Type in the line exactly as it appears below and press
after the last quotation mark:
10 PRINT "I HEARD OF A POET NAMED SAM"
All instruction lines in BASIC programs are numbered. When you type
this one-line program, make sure that the 1 and the 0 in the number
10 are numerals, not letters. If you used letters instead of numbers,
you will get an Error message.
A numbered instruction line in a program can be longer than one line
on the screen. When the cursor runs out of space on one line, it
automatically drops down to the next line. You should press
only at the end of an instruction line to tell the computer that you are
done typing the instruction and that it should store the instruction in its
memory. Nothing dramatic happens when you press ; the
cursor merely returns to the left margin so that you can begin another
line in the program.
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