Editing Atari BASIC (section)

{{Short description|Dialect of the BASIC programming language}}
{{about|the standard BASIC for Atari 8-bit computers|Atari's version of Microsoft BASIC|Atari Microsoft BASIC|the Atari ST language|Atari ST BASIC|the Atari 2600 cartridge|BASIC Programming}}

{{Infobox programming language
| name = Atari BASIC
| logo = <!-- (filename) -->
| logo caption = 
| screenshot = File:AtariBasicExample.png
| screenshot caption = A program ready to run
| paradigm = <!-- or: | paradigms = -->
| family = [[BASIC]]
| designers = Paul Laughton<br/>Kathleen O'Brien<br/>[[Carol Shaw]] (manual)<br />Keith Brewster (manual)
| developer = [[Shepardson Microsystems]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1979}}
| latest release version = Revision C
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|1983}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = <!-- {{start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| typing = 
| scope = 
| programming language = 
| discontinued = 
| platform = [[Atari 8-bit computers]]
| operating system = 
| license = [[Commercial software|Commercial]] [[proprietary software]]
| file ext = 
| file format = <!-- or: | file formats = -->
| website = <!-- {{url|www.example.com}} -->
| implementations = 
| dialects = 
| influenced by = [[Data General Business Basic]]<ref name="SE Books">{{cite book |last1=Lorenzo |first1=Mark |title=Endless Loop: The History of the BASIC Programming Language |date=2017 |publisher=SE Books |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-1974-27707-0 |page=106}}</ref>
| influenced = [[BASIC A+]], [[BASIC XL]], BASIC XE, [[Turbo-BASIC XL]]
}}

'''Atari BASIC''' is an [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] for the [[BASIC]] programming language that shipped with [[Atari 8-bit computers]]. Unlike most American BASICs of the home computer era, Atari BASIC is not a derivative of [[Microsoft BASIC]] and differs in significant ways. It includes keywords for Atari-specific features and lacks support for string arrays.

The language was distributed as an 8&nbsp;[[kilobyte|KB]] [[ROM cartridge]] for use with the 1979 Atari 400 and 800 computers and included the ''Atari BASIC Reference Manual'' written by [[Carol Shaw]] and Keith Brewster.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Compute!'s First Book of Atari |url=https://www.atariarchives.org/c1ba/page007.php |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=www.atariarchives.org |quote=Carol Shaw, Keith Brewster. BASIC REFERENCE MANUAL. draft, Atari, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (1979)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Benj |date=12 October 2011 |title=VC&G Interview: Carol Shaw, Atari’s First Female Video Game Developer |url=https://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800/vcg-interview-carol-shaw-female-video-game-pioneer-2 |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=They had a manual for Atari BASIC [for the Atari 800] and somebody wrote sort of a cutesy manual that was supposed to be very humorous, but it had a lot of technical errors in it. I ended up rewriting the manual.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Women in tech: The groundbreaking career of video game pioneer Carol Shaw |url=https://blog.avast.com/women-in-tech-carol-shaw |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=blog.avast.com |language=en}}</ref> Starting with the 600XL and 800XL in 1983, BASIC is built into the system. There are three primary versions of the software: the original cartridge-based "A", the built-in "B" for the 600XL/800XL, and the final "C" version in late-model XLs and the XE series.

Despite the Atari 8-bit computers running at a higher speed than most of its contemporaries, several technical decisions placed Atari BASIC near the bottom in performance benchmarks. The original authors addressed most of these issues in a series of improved versions: [[BASIC A+]] (1981), [[BASIC XL]] (1983), and BASIC XE (1985).

The complete, annotated [[source code]] and design specifications of Atari BASIC were published as ''The Atari BASIC Source Book'' in 1983.{{sfn|Wilkinson|O'Brien|Laughton|1983}}