Re:Syntax highlighting is a waste of an information channel
by mjbrusso on Tuesday July 21, 2020 @06:54AM
(#23905852)
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.
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Re:Syntax highlighting is a waste of an information channel
by rswail on Tuesday July 21, 2020 @09:02AM
(#23906472)
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 :)