The page of BBC BASIC programming

 
David Ruck has updated his excellent application, GraphTask. Amongst other things this application provides a desktop window in which very simple BBC BASIC programs can be written, saved, loaded and run.
 

When launched, GraphTask is in supervisor mode. Into the GraphTask window, type in the command BASIC.
 

 
Now type in MODE 21
We're all set to write a program.
Type in the following;

10 REM >FunBox
20 MODE 21
30 FOR B = 0 TO 630 STEP 10
40 GCOL B/10
50 RECTANGLE FILL B, B, 1280-2*B, 1024-2*B
60 NEXT

If you make a mistake, simply retype the entire line. Look carefully for the difference between the letter O and the number zero, 0. Type in SAVE, and then RUN. Here's what I get;
 

 
On your hard drive you should have a BBC BASIC file called FunBox. It's there from when you typed in SAVE a couple of steps back.
 

 
You can now drag and drop this into !Edit where you can more easily correct any typing errors. It's actually easier to write programs from scratch in Edit but I wanted to show off some of GraphTask's functionality. Edit, of course, is built into RISC OS. Free alternatives to Edit include Zap and StrongED.
 

 
Suppose, having turned your computer off, you want to show FunBox to a friend. Double click on GraphTask to place it on the icon bar. Now drag and drop the FunBox file onto that GraphTask icon on the icon bar.
 
Programming does not come any easier than this.
 

 
LINK TO SOFTWARE
 

 
Click on the icon above to go to the GraphTask download page.