Eremey Valetov
e7f35c21ff
Binary SAVE/LOAD: SAVE now writes tokenized binary by default (0xFF header format), matching original GW-BASIC behavior. SAVE "file",A for ASCII. LOAD auto-detects binary vs ASCII from the first byte. Command-line file loading also auto-detects, so binary .BAS files just work. INKEY$ extended keys: arrow keys, Home/End/PgUp/PgDn, Insert/Delete, and F1-F10 now return the correct CHR$(0) + scan_code two-byte sequences per the IBM PC convention. Refactored event trap key parsing to use tui_read_key() instead of duplicating escape sequence parsing. Golden-file regression tests: generated .expected output files for 55 of 58 test programs (3 timing-dependent tests excluded). The test runner now reports compat match status alongside pass/fail. Classic programs: added Hamurabi, Lunar Lander, Gunner, and Diamond from David Ahl's BASIC Computer Games (1978) in tests/classic/ for manual compatibility testing. Docs updated with compiler roadmap item and hardware I/O simulator plan.
59 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
59 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# Roadmap
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## The Big One
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- **GW-BASIC 2026 Compiler** — ahead-of-time compilation of BASIC programs to
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native executables. Because nothing says "premature optimization" like
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compiling a language designed for an interpreter running on a 4.77 MHz 8088.
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But we've come this far, so why not? Likely approach: translate the token
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stream to C and lean on GCC/Clang for the heavy lifting.
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## Planned Features
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- **DEF SEG / PEEK / POKE emulation** — a virtual address space for the BIOS data
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area and CGA screen buffer (B800:0000), so programs that directly twiddle
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screen memory or read the keyboard buffer actually work. Not quite cycle-
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accurate, but enough to run most "tricks" from the 1980s magazines.
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- **Hardware I/O simulator** — an optional emulation layer for `OUT`, `INP`,
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`WAIT`, `MOTOR`, and friends. The idea is to provide a virtual PC peripheral
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bus so retro programs that talk to the speaker, joystick port, or parallel
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interface can do *something* useful instead of silently no-oping. Think of it
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as a tiny museum exhibit for vintage BASIC hardware hacking.
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- **BSAVE / BLOAD** — binary file save/load for screen buffers and data
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- **PRINT USING edge cases** — `**` asterisk fill, `**$` combined, thousands
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separator with `,`, and `^^^^` scientific notation corner cases to match
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the original output formatting exactly
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- **GET/PUT graphics** — sprite capture and blit for graphics mode; the
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framebuffer infrastructure is already in place, this is the missing piece
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for any BASIC program that does animation
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- **TUI color support** — map GW-BASIC COLOR attributes to ANSI 16-color output
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in the TUI screen buffer
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- **VIEW / WINDOW / PALETTE** — graphics viewport, coordinate mapping, and
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palette remapping
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- **MBF format support for binary LOAD** — convert Microsoft Binary Format
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float constants when loading files saved by the original GWBASIC.EXE
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## IDE and Notebook Integration
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- **Jupyter kernel for GW-BASIC** — a Jupyter Notebook kernel that runs
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GW-BASIC programs cell-by-cell, with rich output for `PRINT`, inline graphics
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rendering for drawing commands, and interactive `INPUT` via notebook widgets.
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Similar in spirit to [foxkernel](https://github.com/evvaletov/foxkernel).
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- **JetBrains plugin (IntelliJ/CLion)** — full-featured language plugin with
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syntax highlighting, code completion, line number navigation, run
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configurations, debugger integration (breakpoints via `STOP`, variable
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inspection), structure view (line number outline), and error annotations.
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- **VS Code extension** — language extension providing syntax highlighting
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(TextMate grammar), snippets, run/debug tasks, integrated terminal runner,
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and Language Server Protocol support for diagnostics and hover info.
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## Known Limitations
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- `PEEK`/`POKE` are stubs (POKE parses and discards, PEEK returns 0)
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- Binary files use IEEE 754 floats, not MBF — files saved here are not
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byte-compatible with original GWBASIC.EXE binary format
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- String garbage collection not implemented (uses `malloc`/`free` instead)
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- Maximum 256 variables, 64 arrays, 16 FOR nesting, 24 GOSUB nesting,
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16 WHILE nesting
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- Hardware I/O (`OUT`, `INP`, `WAIT`, `COM`, `MOTOR`) not yet implemented
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