PET - Imapenguin

PET

A collection of 6 posts

Adding very large integers in 8 Bit BASIC

Adding very large integers in 8 Bit BASIC

As we've discussed, large integer math is a pretty interesting problem, even for modern computers. What if we wanted to add very, very, very large integers without using scientific notation, but this time let's do it extra slowly. Extra slow... this seems like a job for BASIC!! Strings We're going

64 Bit Addition and Products on Commodore: The Wheat and Chessboard problem

64 Bit Addition and Products on Commodore: The Wheat and Chessboard problem

Dealing with large numbers in computing has been an attractive problem area for a long time. Using an average calculator might lead you to believe that it's too tricky for most applications. 0:00/1×But it's not that difficult. And to prove it, we're going to implement this calculation

The terrible random number generation in the Commodore 64 (and 128)

The terrible random number generation in the Commodore 64 (and 128)

Quite a while ago, I started playing with random numbers on 8 Bit machines. I don't think anyone is doing "serious" work on these machines, but playing with Ciphers and Crypto got me at least curious about how a Commodore 64 generates random numbers. There are many ways to determine

Getting green and amber screens from a MiniPET 40/80

Getting green and amber screens from a MiniPET 40/80

In mid-2021, I built a MiniPET 40/80. It's one of the best replica kits I've ever seen. Even the keyboard is wonderfully awkward to use, just like a real Chicklet PET keyboard is. Switching between ROM versions with DIP switches has been great for learning and experimenting with internals.

Just for fun, the 100 door problem on several different systems

Just for fun, the 100 door problem on several different systems

What's the 100 door problem? It's a just for fun problem in "beginning" math and computer courses. The idea is simple: There are 100 closed doors in a row. You walk past the doors 100 times (100 passes) The first time, visit every door. If the door is closed, open

Running Commodore 64 BASIC Programs on a PET

Running Commodore 64 BASIC Programs on a PET

The Commodore 64 and PET are fairly similar systems. Other than a few memory location differences, many BASIC programs written for the Commodore 64 that don't use graphics can run on a PET. There is one caveat. The PET doesn't relocate a saved BASIC program to the beginning of BASIC,