monsonite / waduzitdo

A Tiny Language based on PILOT in 256 bytes of Z80 or 8080 Code

Waduzitdo

A Tiny Language based on PILOT in 256 bytes of Z80 or 8080 Code

Waduzitdo featured in Byte September 1978. It is a tiny framework that allows text to be stored into memory, edited and retrieved using simple character commands. It was originally written to allow very simple text based games to be played.

Listings for 6800, 8080 microprocessors and in Pascal were provided.

The original article is reproduced here:

http://primepuzzle.com/waduzitdo/waduzitdo.html

It would be hard-pushed to say that it is a language, but more of a user friendly, interactive text storage/retrieval means for early microprocessors. If you had an early 6800 or Z80 system with a serial terminal and simple hex monitor program, Waduzitdo would bring a whole new set of text-based possibilities to such a system.

As a "language" it probably has only a few niche applications - such as text-based adventure games or question and answer (quiz) games.

What is more interesting is that it provides a framework for entering text into memory a line at a time and the ability to edit the text, with what is probably the world's smallest text editor.

The other feature that might be useful is the S:x command that puts x into the accumulator where it can be used to call a subroutine. This would allow menus of commands to be executed, just by entering a single character. This would allow the language to be extended to suit the users application. Using a computer to selectively drill down into a text database, presenting specific text output, based on simple text character inputs and Yes/No logic is a powerful technique.