👾 What if there was no BASIC in EndBASIC? // Julio Merino
👾 What if there was no BASIC in EndBASIC? // Julio Merino
Remember when turning a computer on meant instantly jumping into code? No bloat, no distractions—just you and a prompt? That’s the experience I’ve been working to bring back with the EndBOX: a small, resilient, nostalgia-packed, all-screen computer that boots straight into the retro-inspired EndBASIC environment you already know. And today, six months after its inception, I’m excited to formally show you the first working prototypes—though they are still rough and need refinement. Let’s dive into the goals for the EndBOX and what it could become with your help.
Unveiling the EndBOX – A microcomputer prototype for EndBASIC
https://www.endbasic.dev/2025/06/unveiling-the-endbox.html
#HackerNews #EndBOX #Microcomputer #EndBASIC #Prototype #TechInnovation #HackerNews
⚡ Unveiling the EndBOX • EndBASIC
「 The EndBOX will run, for lack of a better name, the EndBOX OS. This OS is a quick-to-boot disk image, built on NetBSD, that just exposes EndBASIC. The primary goal behind the OS is get you to a prompt as quickly as possible while offering “advanced” features like USB input and Wi-Fi connectivity. A secondary goal is to be resilient to power cuts 」
Remember when turning a computer on meant instantly jumping into code? No bloat, no distractions—just you and a prompt? That’s the experience I’ve been working to bring back with the EndBOX: a small, resilient, nostalgia-packed, all-screen computer that boots straight into the retro-inspired EndBASIC environment you already know. And today, six months after its inception, I’m excited to formally show you the first working prototypes—though they are still rough and need refinement. Let’s dive into the goals for the EndBOX and what it could become with your help.
Since its inception two years ago, the EndBASIC interpreter has been using an AST-based execution engine. And during all this time, people have mocked the language for not allowing 10 GOTO 10. Well, fear not: the upcoming 0.10 release has full support for GOTO and GOSUB, features that were made possible by moving to a bytecode-based interpreter. Let’s take a peek at what the problems were and how I addressed them.
Now with some color and proper built-in documentation for the core language. I /really/ need to stop making changes and release the damn thing already.