If you've ever wondered about the Tandy PC-5/PC-6 Pocket Computer "assembler" ...

[ClassicHasClass]

It turns out it's not something Casio came up with on their own: it's actually CAP-X/COMP-X, which ultimately originated with the Japanese government Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Here's some history, a reimplementation in Perl with enhancements, and even (what I think is) the first CAP-X/COMP-X games. The classic examples run unmodified on a PC-5 or PC-6. I know because I typed them in by hand!

CAP-X and COMP-X: how the Tandy Pocket Computers got a sucky Japanese assembler

I grew up primarily with the Commodore 64, where if you wanted to do anything really cool and useful, you had to do it in 6502 assembly lang...

oldvcr.blogspot.com

 

[alank2]

The PC-6 is my favorite calculator of all time. That is quite a long article - I do WISH the assembler could have been real on the PC-6.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

The clamshell and the keyboard were what bothered me the most about the PC-5/6, and of course all those years wondering what the assembler was actually good for. It really is faster than BASIC, at least.

By contrast the PC-4 was obviously limited, but mine has been much more durable than my FX's, and I really do prefer proper alpha keys. I got a lot of enjoyment out of it. I'd like to try figuring out stuff on its I/O port with an Arduino or something.