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Posted by vahidce 1 day ago

Show HN: QBasic 1.1 in the Browser(www.vahidyousefzadeh.com)
I built an independent reimplementation of the QBasic 1.1 compiler, virtual machine, and IDE that runs entirely in the browser. TypeScript with a Svelte 5 frontend.
8 points | 5 comments
vunderba 1 day ago|
Nice job~

For the past 6 months I've also been working on a period-accurate QBASIC 1.1 simulator (and corresponding virtual hardware layer) that runs entirely in the browser.

I've got a stack of books on my desk from when I was a kid in the 90s that have literally been my religious texts (Undocumented DOS, The Programmer's PC Sourcebook, etc), so I know how hard it is to get this right.

I've actually posted about it a couple times here in HN.

Anyway small bit of feedback:

Technically if you don't clear the screen (using CLS, or set a SCREEN mode other than zero), the cursor retains its position even between program executions.

So basically if you have a program like this:

  PRINT "WHY IS A RAVEN LIKE A WRITING DESK"
  END
And then you run it again - the output screen should display:

  WHY IS A RAVEN LIKE A WRITING DESK
  WHY IS A RAVEN LIKE A WRITING DESK

There's a thousand other subtleties like this that make the proverbial "last mile" sometimes feel insurmountable. Fun though!

* Your definition of "fun" may vary.

MobiusHorizons 1 day ago||
Looks cool, but unfortunately doesn’t trigger the keyboard on mobile
vahidce 1 day ago|
Thank you for the feedback! I just tried on two iPhone and Android phones and it brought up the keyboard.
MobiusHorizons 1 day ago||
Ah it looks like the editor does, but the run screen does not. My guess would be since it’s emulating dos programs, probably the keyboard should always be visible.
vahidce 1 day ago||
Ah many thanks! Fixed it!
hide_ishikawa 23 hours ago|
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