The Classic Primer

This document serves as a self-teaching guide for novice users of the CLASSIC computer system, providing comprehensive instruction on both system operation and BASIC language programming. It covers fundamental aspects such as starting the computer, handling disks, executing basic monitor commands like R BASIC, and troubleshooting initial setup issues.

The guide then systematically introduces BASIC programming, starting with elementary concepts like arithmetic calculations, PRINT and END statements, line numbers, and the order of operations. It progresses to printing larger numbers and words, using variables with LET and INPUT statements, controlling program flow with GO TO and IF THEN statements, and implementing various types of loops, including FOR-NEXT. Program organization is emphasized through the use of REM statements, RESEQ for renumbering lines, multiple statements per line, and subroutines (GOSUB, RETURN).

Advanced BASIC features are explored, covering a range of numeric functions (e.g., ABS, SQR, LOG, RND, user-defined functions) and string manipulation functions (e.g., DIM for string arrays, concatenation, VAL for string-to-numeric conversion, LEN, POS, SEG$). Disk file management is detailed, including CHAIN for program linking, FILEV# and FILEN# for creating and reading disk files, and monitor commands for directory listing (DIRECT), file renaming (RENAME), copying (COPY), deleting (DELETE, ZERO), and compiling programs (R BCOMP). The document also provides guidance on program documentation, best practices for program transportability across different systems, and lists additional resources for continued learning in instructional computing.