PowerBASIC 3.2 Does Pointers

Carmel, Calif ---- August 11, 1995 ---- PowerBASIC, Inc. announced today a
revolution in BASIC programming -- true Pointer variables for the first
time in any BASIC dialect. Now with the addition of Pointers, BASIC has
all the important features of the other major programming languages like C
and Pascal. PowerBASIC 3.2 even allows Pointers to target other Pointers.
offering more levels of indirection than any other programming language.

"Up to now, BASIC programmers couldn't take advantage of the power of
Pointers," explained Robert Zale. President of PowerBASlC, Inc. "Our goal
is to continue to add to the power of BASIC, while at the same time
maintaining the ease of learning and ease of use that are traditional with
the language. Many programmers are now migrating to PowerBASIC from C. and
they require Pointers to translate their code. Since we're a customer
driven company, we've introduced Pointers into the latest version of
PowerBASIC."

Version 3.2 also adds underscores in variable names and enhanced
communications support, including support for the 16550 UART chip. In
addition to improvements in the compiler itself, PowerBASlC. Inc. has
enhanced the context-sensitive help system by adding information on
Pointers, providing more importable source code examples, and expanding
the information on all of the extensive data types (15 in all) supported
by PowerBASIC. The two-volume documentation has also been revised and
enhanced to aid in the functionality of this revision.

"The true power of pointers is in their speed and flexibility," reported
Bruce Tonkin, noted software industry journalist and programmer. "A
pointer is a variable that holds a 32-bit (4-byte) address of data or code
located elsewhere in memory. It is called a pointer because it literally
'points' to data or 'points' to code. The data or code that is being
pointed to is referred to as the 'target'. Since the address is defined at
run-time, any target in memory can be referenced by the program just as if
it were a standard PowerBASIC variable."

Traditionally, a BASIC programmer had to use combinations of DEF SEG, PEEK,
and POKE to access memory. This allowed the programmer to address memory
as bytes, integers, long integers, and strings. If the target took any
other form, conversion was necessary. Pointers allow the programmer to
address the target memory location in any fashion desired. Even as a
user-defined type or structure. Now with PowerBASIC 3.2, using DEF SEG and
PEEK/POKE is unnecessary, so the programmer has access to that data or
code much more quickly.

PowerBASIC 3.2, with a suggested retail price of $149, is available to
registered owners of PowerBASIC 3.0 or 3.1 for just $19.95. C, Pascal and
QuickBasic owners can upgrade to PowerBASIC for $99 by calling (800)
780-7707 or (408) 659-8000 or by FAX at (408) 659-8008. PowerBASIC 3.2 is
also available from selected programming retailers and direct marketers..
PowerBASIC, Inc. is a privately held corporation based in Carmel,
California.
 
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