Skip to content

Quick start

Two features:

  • Syntax highlighting - Colors and styles for language elements
  • Code snippets - Predefined snippets with placeholders

Both activate when you open .bas or .bpp files.

Creating your first file

Plain BASIC v2

Create a new file named hello.bas:

10 print "{clr}"
20 poke 53280,0
30 poke 53281,0
40 print "{wht}hello bpp+"

What gets highlighted:

  • Line numbers: 10, 20, 30, 40
  • Keywords: print, poke
  • Strings: "{clr}", "{wht}hello bpp+"
  • PETSCII tokens: {clr}, {wht}

BPP+ syntax

Create a new file named hello.bpp:

; bpp+ program

goto main

screen: {
    init:
        poke 53280,0\
        poke 53281,0\
        return

    welcome:
        print "{wht}hello bpp+"\
        return
}

main:
    gosub screen.init
    gosub screen.welcome

BPP+ features highlighted:

  • Labels: main:, init:, welcome: - Styled as declarations and references
  • Scopes: screen: { ... } - Styled as namespace delimiters
  • Scoped references: screen.init, screen.welcome - Styled to show qualified access
  • Statement chaining: Backslash (\) continuation character
  • Preprocessor comments: Semicolon (;) comments in addition to standard rem syntax

Working with BPP+ files

What is BPP+?

BPP+ is a preprocessor that extends BASIC v2 with labels, scopes, and includes.

See BPP+ Preprocessor documentation for language specification and BPP+ features reference for highlighting details.

Using code snippets

Example: FOR loop

  1. Type for
  2. Press Tab
  3. Inserts: for <counter variable>=<start value> to <end value>:<expression>:next <counter variable>
  4. Press Tab to move between placeholders
  5. Type your values
for i=1 to 10:print i:next i

Example: Color codes

  1. Type {wht}
  2. Press Tab or Enter
  3. Inserts the white color token

Using chr$ function:

  1. Type chr
  2. Press Tab
  3. Inserts: chr$(<numeric expression>)
  4. Type 5 for white color

Common snippets

Type Result
print print <expression>
gosub gosub <line/label>
if if <condition> then <line or expression>
peek peek(<memory address>)
poke poke <memory address>,number
{clr} Clear screen token
{wht} White color token

See Code snippets for the complete list.

Next steps