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BCI51 is the first, and as far as we know, still the only real-time BASIC compiler for the 8051 family. "Real time" means that BCI51 supports true interrupts. It comes with ring-buffered, interrupt-driven serial I/O. The BCI51 function library is re-entrant (another real time requirement. BCI51 is NOT derived from the BASIC-52 interpreter. We wrote it 'from scratch' to combine the speed of true compiled code with the ease and familiarity of BASIC. BCI51 is a command-line program which runs in a DOS window under any Windows or NT operating system. It generates standard Intel Hex files. BCI51 has great support for in-line or #included assembly code. |
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| Photo: DPB2 and some accessories running a BCI51 Program. BCI51 and DPB2 together received an EDN 100 Hot Products award. | ||
| REQUIREMENTS and LIMITATIONS: All versions do not support floating point math. However, you can simulate decimal data a number of ways so this is not really a limitation. Without floating point math there are no trig functions. All versions have 8- and 16- bit integer math, signed and unsigned. There is an unsigned 32-bit math library and it does require some knowledge of assembly code. All BCI51 programs require at least a few bytes of "movx" data memory, so the very small 8051s without any possibility of so-called "external data memory" will not run a BCI51 program. Some controllers such as the DS87C520 and DS87C530 have 1 KByte of movx SRAM built in - this is acceptable to a BCI51 program. | ||
| BCI51 PRO: Includes support (50 added keywords) for Dallas Secure Micros. Doesn't need line numbers, can use descriptive labels instead. More complex if-else-endif constructs than BCI51. Outsells BCI51 10:1. Does not have specific support for the Dallas High Speed Micros, but does generate code which runs on them in their 8051-compatible modes. BCI51-generated code is in use in many commercial products world wide from radio station automation equipment to portable data loggers. | ||
| BCI51: The original version, requires line numbers. No special Dallas Secure Micro support. Frankly, we don't sell many of these. | ||
| ALPT: Assembly Language Programmer's Toolkit. This is commented source code for the entire BCI51 run-time library. It is not needed to simply use in-line assembly code. It is intended for you who will be modifying the run-time libraries or who want to call the run-time routines directly from your own assembly code. Or if you are just curious how the libraries work. | ||
| FUTURE PLANS: It is our intent to add a new version of BCI51 to the RAD51 development environment. But it took us over a year to get RAD51 out the door, so don't hold your breath... All BCI51 Pro registered owners will receive a free RAD51 & BCI51 update when and if it is completed. | ||
BCI51 Files Area: sample
programs and enhancements |
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 BCI51 FAQs |
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