You should also use the utilities that are available, either IN your computer, or in a program, that aid you in writing, editing, or tracking down errors in a machine language program. An example would be the KERNAL, which allows you to check the keyboard, print text, control peripheral devices like disk drives, printers, modems, etc., manage memory and the screen. It is extremely powerful and it is advised strongly that it is used (refer to KERNAL section, Page 268).

Advantages of writing programs in machine language:

1. Speed - Machine language is hundreds, and in some cases thousands of times faster than a high level language such as BASIC.
2. Tightness - A machine language program can be made totally "watertight," i.e., the user can be made to do ONLY what the program allows, and no more. With a high level language, you are relying on the user not "crashing" the BASIC interpreter by entering, for example, a zero which later causes a:

 ?DIVISION BY ZERO ERROR IN LINE 830

 READY.

In essence, the computer can only be maximized by the machine language programmer.

APPROACHING A LARGE TASK

When approaching a large task in machine language, a certain amount of subconscious thought has usually taken place. You think about how certain processes are carried out in machine language. When the task is started, it is usually a good idea to write it out on paper. Use block diagrams of memory usage, functional modules of code required, and a program flow. Let's say that you wanted to write a roulette game in machine language. You could outline it something like this: