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TRSE (Turbo Rascal)

TRSE (Turbo Rascal Syntax Error) is a desktop IDE and compiler for 8-bit (and more) systems, created by Geir Straume. Programs are written in Turbo Rascal — a clean, Pascal-flavoured language that compiles directly to native machine code for your target platform.

Desktop app

This section covers the TRSE desktop IDE. The browser-based web IDE at ide.retrogamecoders.com is a separate tool — see Getting started with the IDE for that.

In this section

  • The TRSE language — syntax, types, procedures, directives, and a minimal game loop. Start here if you're new to Turbo Rascal.
  • Methods (reference) — complete listing of all built-in methods with parameters and platform compatibility, generated from the TRSE source.
  • How the reference is generated — sources, regeneration script, and maintenance notes.

Quick overview

TRSE programs are .ras files; reusable libraries are .tru unit files. A minimal program looks like:

program HelloWorld;
@use "screen/screen"
var
    i : byte;
begin
    Screen::Clear(#Screen::screen0, key_space);
    Screen::PrintString(cstring("HELLO WORLD"), 10, 12, #Screen::screen0);
    while (true) do
        Screen::WaitForVerticalBlank();
end.

See The TRSE language for a full walkthrough.

Upstream project

The main TRSE project lives at github.com/leuat/TRSE — tutorials, examples, and the full source are there.