mystery software of the 1980's

[tape]

Most of you probably don't remember, but way back in the days of the just introduced PCs (Apple II, Commadore 64, IBM PC) there was a program that was designed to teach BASIC type programing skills. The triangular icon that moved around the screen was called a mouse (before the conventional mouse used today). You would type in commands so that the mouse created shapes and designs, such as the angle of turn, length of line and a repeat command to make spirals and such. Any idea of its name?

[Strider]

I had a class in Basic in High School in the early 80's, but unfortunately it was on an Apple II computer. However, I vaguely remember there was a program for the PC, but like you I don't remember the name of it.

[Panama Red]

Anything in this Wikipedia article on the history of Basic?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC_programming_language

[mojo]

That concept is usually called a turtle, not a mouse. We had to create our own using the python language in my CS I class.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(robot)

[tape]

MOJO,
YES!! you are correct, the drawing figure WAS called a turtle, although it was triangular in share. This bit of info brought back the memory---the language/program I was thinking of is/was called LOGO. Thanks for bringing it all back to me.

[glfredrick]

I recall being amazed at what I could do once I learned the "peek" and "poke" commands. For my final exam in programming (on a Commodore system) I wrote a program that couldn't execute because it used up all available system resources. Man, those were the days.

Got an A because no one, including the teacher, was bright enough to check my nested sub-routines to see if I actually made them all work. Looked good at least...
Actually, I wrote a program to teach basic math, and it would do fireworks all over the screen when the correct answer was given to randomly drawn problems. The user could select the level, and the functions tested (ad, subtract, etc.). Pretty cool for its day, but that was a LONG time ago. Carry more computer power in my wristwatch these days.

[tape]

Man,
I am getting hit left and right with old memories. Stuff was pretty crude by today's standards. A good crude--sort of like being able to rebuild that 1 barrel carb from my 6 cyl '57 Chevy