PEEK¶

Implementation Note¶

ℹ️ Emulated with Random Values: PEEK does NOT read actual memory. Instead, it returns a random value between 0-255 (inclusive).

Behavior: Each call to PEEK returns a new random integer in the range 0-255. This value is NOT related to any POKE operation.

Why: Most legacy BASIC programs used PEEK to seed random number generators (e.g., RANDOMIZE PEEK(0)). Since we cannot read actual memory addresses in a Python interpreter, returning random values provides compatibility for this common use case.

Important Limitations: - PEEK does NOT return values written by POKE (POKE is a no-op that does nothing) - Memory-mapped I/O operations will not work - Each PEEK call returns a different random value - Cannot be used for actual memory inspection or hardware control

Recommendation: Use RANDOMIZE and RND instead of PEEK for random number generation.

Syntax¶

PEEK(I)

Description¶

Returns the byte (decimal integer in the range 0 to 255) read from memory location I.

With the 8K version of BASIC-80, I must be less than 32768. To PEEK at a memory location above 32768, subtract 65536 from the desired address.

With Extended and Disk BASIC-80, I must be in the range 0 to 65536.

PEEK is traditionally the complementary function to the POKE statement. However, in this implementation, PEEK returns random values and POKE is a no-op, so they are not functionally related.

Example¶

A = PEEK(&H5A00)

Common Uses (Historical)¶

Random Number Seeding¶

10 REM Seed RNG with memory value
20 RANDOMIZE PEEK(0)

Modern equivalent:

10 REM Use RANDOMIZE alone (uses system time)
20 RANDOMIZE

Memory-Mapped I/O¶

10 REM Check keyboard buffer (CP/M specific)
20 IF PEEK(&H0001) <> 0 THEN GOSUB 1000

Note: Memory-mapped I/O operations will not work in this implementation.