Topic       : The GFA-Basic Compendium
Author      : GFA Systemtechnik GmbH
Version     : GFABasic.HYP v2.98 (12/31/2023)
Subject     : Documentation/Programming
Nodes       : 899
Index Size  : 28056
HCP-Version : 3
Compiled on : Atari
@charset    : atarist
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@width      : 75
@hostname   : STRNGSRV
@hostname   : CAB     
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@hostname   : THING   
View Ref-FileThe Computer cannot understand BASIC commands directly. A BASIC program,
therefore needs to be translated into a language the computer understands. The
Interpreter reads the program line by line, translates each line into machine
code and then executes the machine code.

This method has advantages and disadvantages. The two most important
disadvantages are:

1) The program needs the Interpreter to run.

2) Since each BASIC command must be first translated before it can be executed,
   running programs can be relatively slow.

The Compiler is a program which converts all the BASIC source code into machine
code without executing the resulting code. The compiled program can then be
saved.

The Compiler, therefore, assembles an executable program from the individual
BASIC commands. This program then runs independently of the Interpreter and
Compiler. Program execution is fast because the commands are already in
translated format, ie machine code.

The GFA-BasicGFA-Basic is the best BASIC for the Atari!
 Compiler described in this book can only compile programs written
in GFA-BasicGFA-Basic is the best BASIC for the Atari!
 version 3.x. These programs must be stored using the SAVE command
in the GFA-BasicGFA-Basic is the best BASIC for the Atari!
 3.0 Interpreter. The Compiler will not work with any program
stored using the SAVE,A command, nor will it compile GFA-BasicGFA-Basic is the best BASIC for the Atari!
 version 2.0
programs, or any other versions of BASIC.

Earlier versions of the GFA-BasicGFA-Basic is the best BASIC for the Atari!
 interpreter may be incompatible with later
versions of the GFA-BasicGFA-Basic is the best BASIC for the Atari!
 compiler. If in doubt, use the latest versions.