Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    
    AmigaBASIC is a Microsoft product that traces it's roots to Macintosh
    BASIC.  The programmers did not even use smart refresh windows, which
    accounts for the remarkably slow window response times.
    
    I plan to buy either GFA Basic or HiSoft Basic.  GFA has been available
    for the Atari ST for some time now and has become the Basic language of
    choice for that machine.  Benchmarks show it to be quite fast.
    
    Ed

    re .-1
    
    whats GFA basic worth and how can I get a copy??
    
    is there a PAL compatible version available (geeze I get sick of
    asking that question!!)
    
    Thanks in advance Ed
    
    Phil

    Doesn't the CLEAR function allocate a bigger memory space for you?

    no Clear allocates standard memory CLEAR [zzzzz],[yyyyyy] allocates
    zzzzzz part of that memory to stack and yyyyy part to heap space.

    no luck with this one I'm afraid
    

    
    There was an adventure program some time ago written in AmigaBASIC.
    It was huge (>100,000 bytes).  Prior to loading it in the author
    stated that you had to do a CLEAR 0,75000 or something like that.
    This seemed to work for me at the time.  Of course something may
    have changed, I'm talking a year or two ago...
    
    - steve

    	Here's my 2p's worth
    
    		What about STACK ?
    
    	Does this not clear memory for bigger programs (I remember reading
    a not on this before)
    
    		Steve G

    
    OK, I found the ad for GFA Basic 3.0 in my latest AmigaWorld...page 61.
    
    GFA Basic is billed as a very fast interpreter with execution times
    comparable to C, easy access to all Amiga libraries, built-in editor
    with syntax checking, blah blah...
    
    GFA Basic was originally to by imported by Michtron (the product is
    actually from Germany), but apparently Michtron and GFA had some sort
    of falling out, so Antic Software is now the publisher.
    
    Meanwhile, Michtron is importing HiSoft Basic as the answer to
    everyone's prayers.  HiSoft is an integrated compiler and editor
    package that will compile your current AmigaBASIC programs.
    
    Guess I'll wait for a few magazine reviews, although I think that the
    GFA product has gotten rave reviews on the Atari ST.  I imagine that
    the Amiga version would be able to run the vast library of ST software
    created with GFA.
    
    Ed.

    Ed - have you any idea how much these packages will cost...
    
    thank you very much for the time you have spent hunting this info
    up for me - I really appreciate it
    
    cheers
    
    Phil

    
    Sorry, no pricing info available, so I suspect that they're not
    actually shipping yet.  Magazine ads typically start a few months
    before producst ship.
    
    Ed.

    re:.4
    
    try the CLEAR command.  I had to do that to get it to handle some
    basic programs that worked just fine on a 640K ibmpc.
    
    The documentation on the CLEAR command for ibmpc Microsoft Basic says:
    CLEAR [,[n][,m]]
       where n is a byte count of the maximum number of bytes for the
       BASIC data segment, default is 65535.
         I believe for some strange reason, the default on the amiga
         version of Microsoft Basic is 24000.  I suspect that was due
         to the original amiga configuration shipping with only 256K
         RAM.
    
       m is the size of stack space
    
    re: GFA vs HiSoft BASIC
         I've seen great reviews of the HiSoft stuff.  Claims that it
    is much better than GFA.  Both are new to the Amiga market, will
    be interesting to see how good a job they do (can it be compatible
    with both ST BASIC and AmigaBasic?)
    
    -Dave   

    
    Good day,
    	     from ABLE SUPPLIES latest listing:
    
    - GFA BASIC				$58.54
    - HISOFT BASIC PROFESSIONAL		$92.57

    Hubert.
    

    I thought I saw both Hisoft and GFA basics at the Software Shop in
    Worcestor Mass. a couple of weekends ago when I was there.
    
    As for Abel, mutter, mutter, mutter...!!!!!