Basic Programming

Basic Programming is a game released for the Atari 2600.

Gameplay
The game is more of a primer for children and people to understand the basics of programming a computer through the BASIC programming language. It uses two Keyboard Controllers linked together and comes with two overlays for the controllers.

The display is divided into six regions, and the player can select to display any of those regions at any time:

1. The PROGRAM region is used to give the computer your instructions.

2. The STACK region will give you the temporary results of your program as the computer is running it.

3. The VARIABLES region will give you the value of each variable item in your program as the computer is running it.

4. The OUTPUT region will show you the output being produced as your program is being run.

5. The STATUS region shows you the amount of memory available at any time for your program. This region will also give you the speed of execution of your program.

6. The GRAPHICS region has two colored squares which can be moved around under your program control.

There is a limit of 63 bytes that can be used for both programming and running a program. If there is little or no memory left, the program you create may not be able to run. There is also no way to save a program you create with it, so when the game system is turned off, the program will be erased.