Beta Basalt for a better BASIC.
Steve Drain, developer of Basalt, has released a new version of the module. Short for BASIC Alternative keywords, Basalt is a module that adds many additional keywords and features to all versions of BBC BASIC V, the built in programming language included as part of the ROM (or ROM Image) in all versions RISC OS.
Version 1.42 beta is intended as a stable – with a bracketed question mark in Steve’s announcement – version of the previous alpha version, with additional features:
The beta is largely backward compatible with the previous stable release, version 0.98, although there are a number of features in the earlier versions that are no longer supported, or with changed APIs – especially where the Toolbox is concerned. This means that the example applications do not yet work with the new version of Basalt, but they will be updated in due course.
The module is also now designed to be self-supporting, and to be included within applications rather than installed by end-users in their System directories, which makes it easy for developers to use and include with applications, thereby simplifying the distribution.
The manual is available in three forms: The HTML manual can be read online or downloaded, and there is also a comprehensive StrongHelp manual that can be downloaded.
