DotBASIC Plus for Commodore 64

This kind of follows up on our previous story about affordable 8-bit dev platforms.

You want an easy to get, widely available and documented platform? The C64 is one of your best bets, but you cannot be arsed to learn a low level language like Assembler, right? At the same time, you do not want the limitations of the poor in-built BASIC included with Commodore machines, I presume.

Enter DotBASIC Plus. Its purpose is to bring you “the power to create sophisticated, modern-looking programs” without you having to burst your brain with low level coding.

According to the author, Dave Moorman, ” The Commodore 64 is the epitome of the 8-bit computer. It has everything you need for any hobbyist programmer […] except an excellent BASIC interpreter”. So he made his own.

The thing comes with a hefty 80 page manual but, unlike most C64 tradition, this is not a free release! However, at 10 dollars for the Downloadable Version, you certainly get a lot of bang for your buck. From what I’ve seen of it, it simplifies the process of BASIC coding adding keywords to the system, but also outputs more optimized code only loading the modules you need (which are all coded in machine language) and stripping the rest. Convenient.

Not enough? A second disk includes most convenient tools, like a bitmap editor, a sprite editor, a cruncher and more.

More info and purchase information at the official website.