This is a new (2014) section in the documentation, and the authors are working on it "in place." The hope is that over time this section will present a complete reference for A-Shell BASIC. In the meantime, please be advised that the material is not complete, though it is acurate and up to date as far as it goes.

A-Shell BASIC, referred to in this documentation as "ASB," is the primary programming language used for developing applications in A-Shell. A super set of AlphaBASIC, which was introduced in 1976 by Alpha Microsystems, it shares many features with other BASIC-like languages, while adding a number of features particularly useful for developing vertical market applications in Windows and Linux environments. These include a mechanism for precise memory layout of structures (MAP statements), various integrated, cross-platform, file access methods, and the ability to call external routines written in C or ASB. It is partially compiled to p-code, which is then executed within the A-Shell runtime environment.

Because most of the users of ASB are already familiar with AlphaBASIC, documentation for the common features has not been a priority. But over time, as new programmers come into contact with ASB who are not familiar with its predecessor, the need for a more complete reference to the language has become more pressing. The following sections attempt to provide the necessary details so that both newcomers and long-time A-Shell developers can get the most out of ASB. Please feel free to post any questions you have about the language or the documentation to our forum.