MCXi Basic vs CPU8

MCX Basic is a BASIC interpreter for iPhone and iPad in the style of the home computers of the 1980s. Type numbered program lines, type RUN, and your program prints, draws, moves sprites and plays music. WRITE AND RUN • A console like a home computer's: direct commands, numbered lines, LIST in colour, AUTO and RENUM. • A key bar above the keyboard gives Esc, the arrow keys, Space, Return and F1–F10, so programs and games can be played by touch. Hardware keyboards work too. • The whole language: IF … THEN … ELSE, FOR … NEXT, GOSUB, ON … GOTO, DATA and READ, DEF FN, PRINT USING, arrays, strings, integer and floating-point numbers, error handling and files. • Programs are plain text files (.bas): open them from the Files app, save, share and print them. GRAPHICS AND SOUND • Graphics screens with up to 256 colours: LINE, CIRCLE, PAINT, DRAW, PSET and POINT. • Sprites with collision detection, a colour palette, pages, and COPY to move parts of the picture. • Music with PLAY on three voices, plus SOUND and BEEP. LEARN FROM EXAMPLES • 47 sample programs that load with one tap: first steps, loops, arrays, strings, files, drawings, and games such as Snake, Bricks, Road race and Lander. Play them, then read how they work. • A help page for each of the 122 commands and functions, with an example and what it shows. • A 69-page user manual (PDF) that introduces programming in BASIC. GOOD TO KNOW • Commands for the hardware of the original machines (memory and ports, joysticks, the printer, machine code) are not included. • MCX Basic is also available for Mac.

Students or software programmers who want to learn how computers work will love this app.  CPU8 simulates the SAP-1 (Simple As Possible) 8-bit bread board computer that was famously the star of a series of videos by Ben Eater. Using it, you can control a fully realized computer that utilizes microcode to illustrate the operation of individual computer instructions and their interrelationships with general purpose registers, program counters, memory registers, instruction registers, bus and memory through "control words". In addition, CPU8 contains an assembler that allows you to write programs and convert them into the machine language of the included simulated computer. A full programming manual is included. Write, assemble and run programs using this 8-bit computer to see how the process works from start to finish. FEATURES - Assembler for the 8-bit computer (with manual) - the 8-bit computer simulator - 16 instructions - 3 pseudo instructions - 16 address spaces - control the speed of the simulated computer clock - single step through programs or run to the end - 7 sample assembler programs to get started - links to all the Ben Eater design and teaching videos - A short history of computing through the ages (37 chapters) Suitable for classroom study, independent study or just for the sheer enjoyment of playing with a computer that you can watch and learn from. No individual information is accessed. Oh, did we mention it has wonderful flashing lights!