Brass, the language of Computing Ages

Where to start

Your first programFrom an empty hand to a lamp that blinks by itself: get a computer, turn it, write and run your first Brass programs.Values and variablesComments, numbers, text, true and false, nil, variables, and the operators that combine them.EventsHow a program waits for the world: the event queue, os.pull_event, timers, and the main loop that reacts to buttons, keys and messages at once.Touch control panelA wall of monitors with one button per machine: a press switches a Redstone Link frequency, and the states come back after a reboot.

Libraries

Everything a program can call, grouped like in the game. The badge tells which computers have it.

Global functionsprint, read, sleep, conversions, loops, errors and imports: the functions every program calls without a library name.AllmathNumbers: rounding, roots, trigonometry, logarithms and chance.AllstringText: cut, search, change case, format numbers, split and trim. Every text also has these as methods: s:upper().AlltableLists and tables: add, remove, sort, join, copy and search.AllosThe computer itself: time, events, timers, name, memory, reboot.AlltermThe text screen: cursor, colours, clearing and scrolling.AllgfxPixel drawing under the text of the screen: shapes, text, sprites and scrolling.Mainframe+fsFiles and folders of the storage medium: save data, keep logs, organise programs.AllrsRedstone on the six faces of the computer: read inputs, drive outputs.AlllinkCreate Redstone Link frequencies, without placing a link block.AlldisplayLines for a Create Display Link pointed at the computer: display boards, nixie tubes, signs.AllperipheralFind and drive the blocks around the computer and on its data cable.AllnetMessages between computers, by cable, radio or Wi-Fi.Mini+vehicleWhere the Create Aeronautics vehicle carrying the computer is, and how fast it goes.PC+

Seven ages, six computers

Every age brings a faster computer. Speed is reached at 256 RPM: like any Create machine, a computer runs on rotation.

Tube Computer

Age III

Speed

400 instructions/s

RAM

2 K cells

Screen

paper teletype, 40 × 14

Storage

punch card deck, 4 KB

Network

none

Transistor Mainframe

Age IV

Speed

1,600 instructions/s

RAM

8 K cells

Screen

green phosphor, 51 × 19

Storage

magnetic tape, 16 KB

Network

none

Minicomputer

Age V

Speed

6,000 instructions/s

RAM

32 K cells

Screen

amber phosphor, 51 × 19

Storage

floppy disk, 64 KB

Network

cable

Personal Computer

Age VI

Speed

24,000 instructions/s

RAM

128 K cells

Screen

16 colours, 51 × 19

Storage

floppy disk, 64 KB

Network

cable, radio, Wi-Fi

Microcontroller

Age VI

Speed

8,000 instructions/s

RAM

16 K cells

Screen

16 colours, 40 × 12

Storage

soldered memory, 16 KB

Network

cable, radio, Wi-Fi

Modern Computer

Age VII

Speed

100,000 instructions/s

RAM

1 M cells

Screen

16 colours, 64 × 24

Storage

SSD, 1 MB

Network

cable, radio, Wi-Fi

Blocks a computer can drive

Every deviceTraffic LightInductive Loop DetectorMonitorsRadio Modem and Wi-Fi RouterRedstone LinkCreate kinetic blocksInventoriesTanksCreate Aeronautics sensorsHot Air Burner

Real projects, explained line by line

Stock alarm and display boardWatch a Create vault, show the stock on a monitor and a Display Board, and light a lamp and ring a bell when an item runs low.Automatic item sorterEmpty an input chest into storage chests on a Data Cable, by item, by mod or by the end of the id, with an overflow chest and a status screen.Overstress guardRead the stress and capacity of a Create network, slow a Rotation Speed Controller down before the network overstresses, sound an alarm and draw a stress bar and its history.Door with a codeA keypad on the terminal that opens a Create door for a few seconds, locks itself after wrong codes, keeps the code in a file and logs every attempt.Touch control panelA wall of monitors with one button per machine: a press switches a Redstone Link frequency, and the states come back after a reboot.Smart intersectionTwo Traffic Lights and two Inductive Loop Detectors run by a state machine that serves the waiting road, with a minimum green, amber and red-amber phases, and flashing amber at night.Factory dashboardA wall of LCD Monitors that shows your stock as bar charts and the stress of the kinetic network, refreshed on a timer.Remote control over the networkStart, stop and watch a production line from another computer, with numbered orders, answers, timeouts, retries and a shared secret.Data logger and graphRecord a value every minute in a CSV file that never grows too big, and draw the last hour as a line graph with axes.Airship altitude holdAn autopilot for a Create Aeronautics balloon ship that holds the height you choose and keeps the ship level, explained step by step.Day and night lightingTurn the lamps of several zones on at dusk and off at dawn through Redstone Link frequencies, with a manual override button and a status screen showing the time.A snake gameA complete Snake with gfx: a grid, a snake made of a list of squares, arrow keys and WASD or ZQSD, a timer for the speed, random apples, a best score saved on the disk and a game over screen.A project in several filesSplit a larger program into a main file and libraries with import, read a settings file with defaults, keep a log, and update the program on many computers by floppy disk or over the network.