Do I need to buy a Commodore Vic-20 (or Commodore 64) to work through the BASIC user manual exercises?

[Gambler]

The user manual exercises are for BASIC, which makes even searching this forum difficult because it is a commonly used word.  I have old Android devices I could use if there was a way to do so.  I don't know any programming.  Even though BASIC might not seem relevant, it still looks like a good place to start as a hobby.  If there is a better place to post this or another topic or something, my apologies and please link to that so I can ask about it there. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

If your goal is to learn programming, id probably start with a different languague, and find a tutorial.

 

But there are emulators and programs that let basic run on normal pcs, no reason to buy old hardware if you want to learn. But basic has many different versions that are sepcific to the manafacture.

[Radium_Angel]

3 minutes ago, Gambler said:

The user manual exercises are for BASIC, which makes even searching this forum difficult because it is a commonly used word.  I have old Android devices I could use if there was a way to do so.  I don't know any programming.  Even though BASIC might not seem relevant, it still looks like a good place to start as a hobby.  If there is a better place to post this or another topic or something, my apologies and please link to that so I can ask about it there. 

BASIC can be had on any computer, you don't need to buy a C64, unless you wish to program specifically for the C64

[doomsriker]

Just now, Gambler said:

The user manual exercises are for BASIC, which makes even searching this forum difficult because it is a commonly used word.  I have old Android devices I could use if there was a way to do so.  I don't know any programming.  Even though BASIC might not seem relevant, it still looks like a good place to start as a hobby.  If there is a better place to post this or another topic or something, my apologies and please link to that so I can ask about it there. 

As previously mentioned there are emulators orrrrr you could mod an old Commodore TV arcade stick because there is actually a full miniaturized Commodore 64 in there. Or you can mod a raspberry PI.

 

 

 

  

[Gambler]

52 minutes ago, doomsriker said:

As previously mentioned there are emulators orrrrr you could mod an old Commodore TV arcade stick because there is actually a full miniaturized Commodore 64 in there. Or you can mod a raspberry PI.

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much.  I had been uneasy about downloading and running an emulator that I wasn't sure about, which is why I had been more willing to experiment on old Android phones instead of on my computer.  The 2nd video mentions using "Retropie allows you to emulate all kinds of old operating systems, one of them being the Commodore 64." This was the final missing piece that I needed. 

[Gambler]

1 hour ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

If your goal is to learn programming, id probably start with a different languague, and find a tutorial.

 

But there are emulators and programs that let basic run on normal pcs, no reason to buy old hardware if you want to learn. But basic has many different versions that are sepcific to the manafacture.

Thank you for your help.  After you mentioned the different versions of BASIC, a large chunk of search results made more sense. 

[Gambler]

1 hour ago, Radium_Angel said:

BASIC can be had on any computer, you don't need to buy a C64, unless you wish to program specifically for the C64

I wasn't sure if the user manual activities would work outside of the Commodore Vic-20 or Commodore 64, or on an emulator for Android.  I might end up trying it out on my PC now that I know BASIC can run on it but it's pretty old so maybe as a last resort.  Thanks so much for your help. 

[WereCatf]

@GamblerIn addition to what everyone else said, one of the quickest and easiest way of playing around a virtual Commodore 64 would be...to run one directly in your browser! See: https://virtualconsoles.com/online-emulators/c64/