Macintosh Basic 1985
Using Macintosh BASIC is a 1985 book by Richard Norling, published by Osborne McGraw-Hill of Berkeley, California. Library of Congress QA76.8.M3N67 1985, card number 85-2934.[1] The ISBN is 0-07-881157-0; the copyright page prints it with a digit missing, as 0-07-88157-0.[1][2] The Library of Congress record gives the extent as viii, 454 pages.[2]
The book is a guide and reference to Apple's own Macintosh BASIC, not Microsoft BASIC. Norling thanks Apple's Macintosh BASIC team and names Donn Denman as the language's chief creator. He describes it as a structured, incrementally compiled BASIC with an interactive debugger, labels or line numbers, CASE and DO/LOOP. Part Four covers calling Toolbox routines from BASIC, which Norling says Apple's own Macintosh BASIC reference manual did not document. The manuscript was written in MacWrite on a 512K Macintosh and a Lisa 2/5 running MacWorks.[3] Andy Hertzfeld records that Apple abandoned Macintosh BASIC in 1985, before it shipped, as Microsoft's condition for renewing the Applesoft BASIC licence.[4]
Contents
[edit | edit source]Page numbers are from the book's contents list.[5]
- Introduction, p. vi
- Part One, Fundamentals of Macintosh BASIC: Getting Started, p. 1; Creating Programs, p. 11; Statements and Operators, p. 21; Editing Programs, p. 35; Making Decisions, p. 53; Organizing Your Program, p. 69; Using Functions, p. 81; Manipulating Strings and Text, p. 95
- Part Two, Intermediate Techniques (p. 111): Variables, Data, and Arrays, p. 113; Formatting Program Output, p. 137; Defining Your Own Functions, p. 159; Using Files, p. 173; Files, Volumes, and Devices, p. 195; Using the Interactive Debugger, p. 223; Advanced Control Structures, p. 233
- Part Three, Special Macintosh Techniques (p. 247): Graphics and Shapes, p. 249; Using the Mouse, p. 269; Making Music, p. 283
- Part Four, The Macintosh Toolbox (p. 297): Using the Macintosh Toolbox, p. 299; Windows and Menus, p. 313; Using Controls, p. 331; QuickDraw Graphics, p. 347; Using Resources, p. 363
- Part Five, Programming Style (p. 383): Professional Polish, p. 385
- Appendix A: Macintosh BASIC Commands and Functions, p. 393
- Appendix B: Error Messages and Codes, p. 405
- Appendix C: ASCII Codes and Keyboard Characters, p. 411
- Appendix D: Toolbox Routines Accessible From BASIC, p. 417
- Appendix E: Solutions to Practice Exercises, p. 437
- Index, p. 451
What this book does not contain
[edit | edit source]It is a programming book. It has no service procedures, parts lists, schematics or electrical data for the Macintosh; Apple's repair documentation is in Category:Apple Service Source. The hosted scan is 448 pages, including the covers.
Related titles on this wiki
[edit | edit source]- Books on Apple's Macintosh BASIC: Introduction to Macintosh Basic 1984 (Scot Kamins, Hayden, 1984); The Macintosh Basic Handbook 1984
- Books on Microsoft BASIC for the Macintosh: Basic Microsoft Basic For The Macintosh 1985, Learning Basic For The Macintosh 1985, Advanced Macintosh BASIC Programming 1985
Download: Macintosh Basic 1985.pdf
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Richard Norling, Using Macintosh BASIC (Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1985), title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 3-4).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Open Library, Using Macintosh BASIC, record OL3022694M, from Library of Congress catalogue data (ISBN 0078811570, LCCN 85002934). Retrieved 2026-09-30.
- ↑ Norling, Using Macintosh BASIC, copyright page, Acknowledgments and Introduction, pp. v-viii (PDF pp. 4 and 7-10).
- ↑ Andy Hertzfeld, "MacBasic", Folklore.org. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
- ↑ Norling, Using Macintosh BASIC, Contents (PDF pp. 5-6).