Basic Engine or Engine BASIC?

Hawk

I keep getting confused between BASIC Engine, and Engine BASIC.
From my understanding BASIC Engine is the original ESP8266 powered board that ran the first version of Engine BASIC, the interpreter that runs on the hardware..
Does that mean that BASIC Engine doesn't really exist so much any more, and what we're now enjoying is Engine BASIC Next Gen running on Allwinner H3 SBCs.
So really, it is now Engine BASIC Next Gen (EB NG) that we should be referring to.

Does this make sense?

I'm new to the BASIC Engine realm, and I'm keen to support it where I can, but I want to make sure that I'm promoting the correct thing.

Cheers,
Mike

Willard

Hawk, I would use the Web page as a guide.

BASIC Engine Next Generation

If there is confusion about the name and it needs to be changed, I would suggest:
NextGen Basic abbreviated - NG Basic

I'm not sure where the confusion is coming from. Look at the name of this forum and the logo.

BASIC Engine Forum (BETA)

Dmian

To me, BASIC Engine (BE) is a platform to write and run BASIC programs.

The particular BASIC flavor of BE is Engine BASIC.

There are two boards, the original BE board, based on the ESP8266, and the Next Generation (NG) based on the Alwinner H3, this being more powerful, and easier to obtain.

So, you can run a BASIC program written in
Engine BASIC in the BASIC Engine board, or the BASIC Engine NG, though it will run way slower in the original BE (and some features may be missing).

Hawk

Dmian I get most of what you're saying, but when you refer to a BASIC Engine NG, what is that? Aren't you really referring to an OPi or a Tauon PC-1 or any of the other Allwinner H3 boards that will boot and run Engine BASIC NG?
In the Next Gen world, I'm not sure that the concept of BASIC Engine or Basic Engine exists.
Now that Engine BASIC NG or Engine BASIC Next Gen is running on off the shelf hardware, it's really Engine BASIC NG that we're playing with, that being the bare-metal firmware and the Engine BASIC NG interpreter that uses it.
I think that the concept of BASIC Engine is now a hang over from the original hardware, it should probably be rebranded to Engine BASIC Next Gen or Engine BASIC NG.
If we were to use a comparison, BBC BASIC is similar in many ways to Engine BASIC, being structured. It now runs on many different platforms, but it is always referred to as BBC BASIC. Microsoft BASIC is another example.
So Engine BASIC NG (or Next Gen) is the particular flavour of BASIC that we are promoting to run on the Allwinner H3 SBCs. There is also an SDL version of Engine BASIC NG.
Maybe I'm getting too much into semantics. It really depends on how @uli wants it referred to. My understanding is that it's still his baby.
As for the orgininal Engine BASIC, it is now just a subset of the new Engine BASIC Next Gen. The two flavours of Engine BASIC are no longer 100% compatible.
BTW, if we're referring to the interpreter, I think BASIC should always be captialised, as it is an acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.
If I'm being too pedantic, just tell me to pull my head in and shut-up, I won't be offended. ;^)

painintheworld

^^^ what Dmian said 🙂

MC10Guru

Ahoy,
I figure I have BASIC Engine H3 computers that run Engine BASIC NG. I don't have a BASIC Engine that runs Engine BASIC. The Tandy MC10 had Microcolor BASIC V1.0 installed, which was a subset of Color BASIC. The Tandy Coco had either a Color BASIC or Extended Color BASIC ROM installed. The TI99/4a came with TI BASIC installed but I usually used the much improved TI Extended BASIC on cartridge.

Toe-May-Toe, Toe-Maw_Toe, you're right it is up to Uli. daveyb

Dmian

In the end, BASIC is BASIC is BASIC, not matter if it runs on a 6502, Z80, ESP8266 or an H3.
Each platform lends to specific functions depending on their feature set, and each version of BASIC tries to exploit the platform as best as possible.
I don’t care how you call it, as long as it’s understood how you should write your program. Just my humble opinion, of course.