Thoreau BASIC 3.2 is a free 64-bit, line-numbered BASIC interpreter that runs as a Windows application or directly on x64 machines via UEFI, combining an old-school GW-BASIC syntax with modern capabilities. It offers 64-bit memory, 24-bit graphics, sprites, mouse input, TCP/IP and HTTP, a full GM/GS wavetable with MIDI/WAV/FLAC/Opus playback, native complex/quaternion/octonion numeric types, a debugger, profiler, source tools, multicore PARFOR, and a native x64 JIT compiler. Graphics, networking and sound are exposed as ordinary BASIC commands; programs can be packaged as standalone Windows EXE or bootable EFI applications.
Release 3.2 adds first-class file browser and menu commands (GETFILES, SELECTBOX) with case-preserving filenames and up to 4,095-byte paths, checkpointing via STATEWRITE/STATELOAD with checksums, staged save/backup commands (FLUSH, FILECOMMIT, FILECOPY), CRC32 and TEXTSTATS, and SYSTEMINFO$ for CPU/firmware/JIT/PARFOR/display details. Targeted JIT improvements speed floating-point integer and native complex/quaternion/octonion operations; RUN restarts without growing the host stack; sound banks are expanded to PCM before playback and can be omitted with NOGM for smaller standalone builds. The UEFI build uses GOP graphics, firmware or raw HID input, firmware or SNP networking and HDA/Azalia PCM where available. Example programs (Pixel Prose) and downloads are available on itch.io; developer contact and donation options are provided.
Summary generated by AI from the linked article. hn.today is not affiliated with Hacker News or Y Combinator.
The Hare compiler was ported to OpenBSD by modifying its FreeBSD support files and addressing build issues such as incompatible functions and format strings. Despite successfully building, the test suite failed due to OpenBSD-specific ELF binary requirements. (briancallahan.net)
Typst 0.15 introduces support for variable fonts, multi-file output, multiple bibliographies, and various PDF standards, enhancing document flexibility. The update also improves documentation, diagnostics, and migration tools to streamline user experience. (typst.app)
DHH states that agents implemented and optimized the Campfire web app in Elixir, Go, and Rust, with Ruby being the slowest. He emphasizes that productivity and developer joy outweighed speed concerns, but notes that maintainability is important when reading code becomes difficult. (twitter.com)
Build with Python is a beginner course where learners create drawings and interactive projects using Python, including making a robot and click-to-draw paintings. The course covers fundamental programming concepts like functions, variables, loops, and event handling. (scimigo.com)
Software engineering is shifting from coding to product engineering, focusing on solving user needs rather than writing code. Advances in AI and abstraction tools enable more people to build and use software without deep technical knowledge. (newsletter.chainofthought.show)
JetBrains developed a RAG pipeline called Air Context to improve semantic code search, enabling LLM agents to find precise, evidence-based code snippets from repositories. Semantic search allows agents to understand code meaning beyond keyword matching, increasing efficiency in large codebases. (blog.jetbrains.com)
Today's best Hacker News stories, summarized and screenshotted, one email a day.