If Print

[Dimster]

Was there a time in Basic when IF was simply followed by a Print statement? Seems to me I did see some code like :

If A Print "...." but the wiki indicates the only time an IF condition is not followed by THEN is the use of GOTO.

[TerryRitchie]

Was there a time in Basic when IF was simply followed by a Print statement? Seems to me I did see some code like :

If A Print "...." but the wiki indicates the only time an IF condition is not followed by THEN is the use of GOTO.

I just fired up my 386DX40 and Tandy 1000 HX and tried it with both GWBasic and Tandy Basic 2.02. Neither would accept that type of statement. Had to include THEN.

[vince]

why not now? great idea for a new PE feature

[Petr]

So I'm also too lazy write THEN... (but then one might ask - why are you getting into Basic?)

[CharlieJV]

Was there a time in Basic when IF was simply followed by a Print statement? Seems to me I did see some code like :

If A Print "...." but the wiki indicates the only time an IF condition is not followed by THEN is the use of GOTO.

If you sneak a peek at https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_da...hB_3679804, you'll see that the grand-pappy of them all had the options:

IF condition THEN statement
IF condition GOTO line

I've also seen:
IF condition THEN line

But who knows what other possibilities have existed among all of the BASIC dialects.

[James D Jarvis]

I recall a version of BASIC that was once just : 

IF condition <line number> 

Because the only thing IF was used for was branching but the utility of IF condition Print  just seems unnecessary because IF condition THEN <almost any other code> works fine.



okay not completely related but does anyone recall why "?" was used as a shorthand for print?  It seems like a great shorthand for Input but baffling for print.  Is it just because "?" look a little like "P" ?

[TerryRitchie]

Okay not completely related but does anyone recall why "?" was used as a shorthand for print?  It seems like a great shorthand for Input but baffling for print.  Is it just because "?" look a little like "P" ?

I believe HP had a version of BASIC that used this (no idea why ? was chosen though) therefore Woz and Gates used it in their ROM implementations since HP's version was used on BASIC time-share systems back in the late 60s/early 70s.

[SMcNeill]

okay not completely related but does anyone recall why "?" was used as a shorthand for print?  It seems like a great shorthand for Input but baffling for print.  Is it just because "?" look a little like "P" ?

Location on a standardized keyboard would be my guess.  If you wanted some symbol for shorthand for PRINT, wouldn't you want it close to the same keyboard location for the quote symbol?   

SHIFT-/ SHIFT-' SHIFT-'...  
?"" 

They're all right there together and quick and easy to type with one hand.  I'd think positioning had as much to do with the key chosen, as anything.

[James D Jarvis]

okay not completely related but does anyone recall why "?" was used as a shorthand for print?  It seems like a great shorthand for Input but baffling for print.  Is it just because "?" look a little like "P" ?

Location on a standardized keyboard would be my guess.  If you wanted some symbol for shorthand for PRINT, wouldn't you want it close to the same keyboard location for the quote symbol?   

SHIFT-/ SHIFT-' SHIFT-'...  
?"" 

They're all right there together and quick and easy to type with one hand.  I'd think positioning had as much to do with the key chosen, as anything.

I never considered that being a two-handed typer. My first computer was also a TI-99/4a ... now there's an annoying keyborad for you.

[SMcNeill]

Got to remember, we're talking in the beginning of computing...  Those guys didn't have any clue about how to type, so I imagine a lot of the first programmers were "hunt-and-peck" typists.  Having the keys right close together like that probably helped them find and make use of them more efficiently.  Of all the symbols that could've been chosen for PRINT, I truly imagine the proximity of the question mark to the quotation key was a large part in why it was chosen for a shortcut.