Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81 / Z88 Forums

Hi,

I have been reading some Spectrum Basic programming books, I was wondering if a variable can have the same name as an array, i.e.

LET score=0

and

DIM score(50)

Both seem to be allowed by the Spectrum Basic interpreter, but clearly bad programming practise to have an array the same name as a variable.

Works also on ZX81:

That is quite common to BASIC interpreters. Variables are saved on different stacks and any checking is on that stack so you can sometimes have A (float), A% (integer), A(..) (array) and A$ (string). Yes, confusing, but it is best practice to use longer variable names anyway if possible (not always easy in 16K and impossible in 1K). On the BBC Micro, variable A to Z (float) and A% to Z% (integer) were actually at fixed addresses so referencing them was incredibly fast.

Yeah, keep in mind that on the ZX Spectrum the array name can only be a single letter.
Simple numeric variables with the same name can coexist with numeric array variables with the same name.
But you cannot have a simple string variable with the same name as a string array variable.
Also variable names are not case sensitive.

Mark