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Comal is a
programming language that was developed by
Benedict Loefstedt and Borge Christensen in 1973.
It has been developed for many platforms,
including the BBC, The PC, The Mac and the Amiga.
Comal is a language similar to BASIC but has many
advanced features that are similar to PASCAL.
As Comal
is a language for beginners it is used in
education and this is where the BBC comes in.
AcornSOFT developed a version for the BBC Micro
Computer, because many schools all over the
country had these computers, so Comal came into
widespread use as an introduction to programming,
In fact some schools still use Comal on BBC's. I
met Comal in my school where I did programming
on a BBC Master, there was a room full of them!
Sadly they have been replaced by Apple iMacs.
As this
has been happening all over the country (BBC's
are being replaced by Apple Macs or PC's) Comal
has been ported to many different platforms, see
below. However I still use Comal on a BBC in my
home, I also have the version for the MacOS and a
demo of the version for the PC. If you would like
to contact me and ask some
questions about Comal, or the BBC then please do.
I will try to help.
- If
you have a BBC computer, model B, B+ or
Master and you would like to use Comal
then use this link to the
8BS site. The owner of this site sells
Comal ROMs which you can put into a free
ROM slot and start to use Comal.
- If
you have a PC and would like to use Comal
then use this link to the
Macharsoft website. Macharsoft sell a
version of Comal, called UniComal, which
will work on your PC.
- If
you have a Apple Mac and would like to
use Comal then use this link to the
Comal for Mac OS site. Iain Merrick has
designed a version of Comal for use on
the Mac.
- Finally
if you have an Amiga then follow this link to a
site on Aminet. Scroll down the page to
"Comal.lha" where you can
download it and use it on your Amiga.
I hope
you found the information useful. I
really enjoy using Comal, on my BBC
Master, and I'm sure you will too (on
whatever platform). Please e-mail me if any
of the links above don't work, or if you
would like further information on Comal.
I am hoping to develop some simple games
and programs in Comal, watch this space,
I will put them on this site for
download.
This
page was made by Alasdair Davis, my
thanks to Robbie Harrison for letting me
put it on his site.
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