Technical Concept
Toolkits ran as terminate and stay resident extensions to the BASIC interpreter supplied with the machine. At the time, such interpreters almost always came programmed into the ROM of the computer, making it impossible to modify or patch the code. It was also extremely rare for manufacturers to offer upgrades or bugfixes except as part of new models of machine.
As the original language was held in immutable ROM, it generally was difficult for a toolkit to directly extend the language, except by adding new keywords to perform functions not implemented by the original interpreter.
Read more about this topic: BASIC Extension
Famous quotes containing the words technical and/or concept:
“I rather think the cinema will die. Look at the energy being exerted to revive it—yesterday it was color, today three dimensions. I don’t give it forty years more. Witness the decline of conversation. Only the Irish have remained incomparable conversationalists, maybe because technical progress has passed them by.”
—Orson Welles (1915–1984)
“I was thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we can just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we got something here.”
—Michael Tolkin, U.S. screenwriter, and Robert Altman. Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins)