MCXi Basic

MCX Basic is a BASIC interpreter for iPhone and iPad in the style of the home computers of the 1980s. Type numbered program lines, type RUN, and your program prints, draws, moves sprites and plays music.

WRITE AND RUN
• A console like a home computer's: direct commands, numbered lines, LIST in colour, AUTO and RENUM.
• A key bar above the keyboard gives Esc, the arrow keys, Space, Return and F1–F10, so programs and games can be played by touch. Hardware keyboards work too.
• The whole language: IF … THEN … ELSE, FOR … NEXT, GOSUB, ON … GOTO, DATA and READ, DEF FN, PRINT USING, arrays, strings, integer and floating-point numbers, error handling and files.
• Programs are plain text files (.bas): open them from the Files app, save, share and print them.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND
• Graphics screens with up to 256 colours: LINE, CIRCLE, PAINT, DRAW, PSET and POINT.
• Sprites with collision detection, a colour palette, pages, and COPY to move parts of the picture.
• Music with PLAY on three voices, plus SOUND and BEEP.

LEARN FROM EXAMPLES
• 47 sample programs that load with one tap: first steps, loops, arrays, strings, files, drawings, and games such as Snake, Bricks, Road race and Lander. Play them, then read how they work.
• A help page for each of the 122 commands and functions, with an example and what it shows.
• A 69-page user manual (PDF) that introduces programming in BASIC.

GOOD TO KNOW
• Commands for the hardware of the original machines (memory and ports, joysticks, the printer, machine code) are not included.
• MCX Basic is also available for Mac.