---
title: "Speed Comparison Between 2068, PASCAL and Compiled BASIC (TIMACHINE)"
type: "article"
slug: "speed-comparison-between-2068-pascal-and-compiled-basic-timachine"
url: "http://localhost/article/speed-comparison-between-2068-pascal-and-compiled-basic-timachine/"
markdown_url: "http://localhost/article/speed-comparison-between-2068-pascal-and-compiled-basic-timachine.md"
published_at: "2020-10-27T17:16:06+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-06-21T23:26:39+00:00"
featured_image:
  url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20230809-041332.jpg"
excerpt: "I have been working on using my Timex/Sinclair 2068 to control a 3-axis drilling/routing machine using stepper motors. To make the machine move in arcs and circles I needed to use the sine and cosine functions in the Timex/Sinclair 2068 ROM. After trying some BASIC and machine language — using the floating point interpreter -…"
category:
  - name: "ZXir QLive Alive"
    slug: "zxir-qlive-alive"
    taxonomy: "category"
    url: "http://localhost/category/periodicals/zxir-qlive-alive/"
post_tag:
  - name: "Full Text"
    slug: "fulltext"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/fulltext/"
  - name: "Pascal (programming language)"
    slug: "pascal"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/pascal/"
  - name: "TIMACHINE"
    slug: "timachine"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/timachine/"
  - name: "TS 2068"
    slug: "ts2068"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/ts2068/"
  - name: "Type-in program"
    slug: "type-in-program"
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model:
  - name: "Timex/Sinclair 2068"
    slug: "ts-2068"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/ts-2068/"
indiv:
  - name: "Larry Kenny"
    slug: "larry-kenny"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/larry-kenny/"
publication: "ZXir QLive Alive"
publication_r:
  id: 10286
  title: "ZXir QLive Alive!"
  type: "periodical"
  url: "http://localhost/periodical/zxir-qlive-alive/"
authors: "Larry Kenny"
volume: "8"
issue: "4"
issues_articles:
  - id: 26832
    title: "ZXir QLive Alive! v8 n4"
    type: "issue"
    url: "http://localhost/issue/zxir-qlive-alive-v8-n4/"
pages: "13-14"
pubdate: "Winter 1998"
related_articles:
  - id: 39233
    title: "TIMACHINE Review"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-review/"
  - id: 6330
    title: "TIMACHINE – A BASIC Compiler"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-a-basic-compiler/"
  - id: 47055
    title: "TIMACHINE: A sort of review"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-a-sort-of-review/"
  - id: 46781
    title: "TIMACHINE and FDD System Compatibility"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-and-fdd-system-compatibility-2/"
  - id: 46660
    title: "TIMACHINE and FDD System Compatibility"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-and-fdd-system-compatibility/"
  - id: 44939
    title: "Patch for *C, *D and *E bugs in Timachine"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/patch-for-c-d-and-e-bugs-in-timachine/"
  - id: 42064
    title: "Bob’s Notebook: TIMACHINE"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/bobs-notebook-timachine/"
  - id: 23603
    title: "Timachine – A Fix"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-a-fix/"
  - id: 23604
    title: "TS2068 Timachine – A Fix"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/ts2068-timachine-a-fix/"
  - id: 23251
    title: "Bob’s Notebook: Printing and TIMACHINE"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/bobs-notebook-5/"
  - id: 22731
    title: "TIMACHINE and the FDD System"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-and-the-fdd-system/"
  - id: 15430
    title: "TIMACHINE on AERCO Disk"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timachine-on-aerco-disk/"
  - id: 21968
    title: "Speed Comparison Between 2068 Pascal and Compiled Basic (Timachine)"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/speed-comparison-between-2068-pascal-and-compiled-basic-timachine-2/"
  - id: 43280
    title: "*D & *E Compilation Bug"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/d-e-compilation-bug/"
  - id: 23244
    title: "A Letter from Cameron Hayne"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/a-letter-from-cameron-hayne/"
  - id: 42115
    title: "Bob’s Notebook: Peeking and Poking About"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/bobs-notebook-peeking-and-poking-about/"
  - id: 60061
    title: "Comparing ZXbasic and TimeMachine"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/comparing-zxbasic-and-timemachine/"
  - id: 21687
    title: "Peeking and Poking About"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/peeking-and-poking-about/"
  - id: 60057
    title: "TimeMachine on Zesarux"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/timemachine-on-zesarux/"
  - id: 38500
    title: "Sinclair Survival Column"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/sinclair-survival-column-5/"
  - id: 8097
    title: "Machine Specifics: Orphans"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/machine-specifics-orphans-3/"
product_reviews:
  - id: 26070
    title: "TIMACHINE"
    type: "product"
    url: "http://localhost/product/timachine/"
archive_link: false
volumeissue: "v8n4"
---

# Speed Comparison Between 2068, PASCAL and Compiled BASIC (TIMACHINE)

I have been working on using my Timex/Sinclair 2068 to control a 3-axis drilling/routing machine using stepper motors. To make the machine move in arcs and circles I needed to use the sine and cosine functions in the Timex/Sinclair 2068 ROM. After trying some BASIC and machine language — using the floating point interpreter – routines, I found that the program couldn’t run nearly fast enough to keep the machine busy at full speed.

I asked [David Solly](http://localhost/indiv/david-solly/), who is a long time HiSoft PASCAL user, to write me a test program using its sine/cosine functions so I could test it against Timex/Sinclair 2068 BASIC and compiled BASIC. The test program plots around a circle 100 times.

The results:

| T/S-2068 BASIC | Compiled BASIC (Timachine) | Hi-Soft PASCAL |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 150 seconds | 126 seconds | 18 seconds |

Wow! The PASCAL really flies even when doing floating point math. It has all its own math routines built in so it doesn’t do any ROM calls. That also means that the compiled code can be burnt into an EPROM and run on a Z80 based CPU without the Timex/Sinclair ROM resident.

The compiled BASIC is only slightly faster that regular BASIC when the floating point routines are used. Even calling the Timex/Sinclair 2068 floating point routines from machine code doesn’t make much difference. If you are writing a program that does a lot of calculation such as a spread sheet, 3d graphics, or CAD etc., PASCAL will far out perform BASIC.

### Timex/Sinclair 2068 BASIC Circle Listing

```
 5 REM ! OPEN # (Timachine only) 
 10 LET RAD = 50 
 20 FOR A=0 TO 628 STEP .5 
 30 PLOT 80 + RAD * SIN A, 80 + RAD * COS A 
 40 NEXT A 
 50 PRINT "END OF PROGRAM"
```

HiSoft PASCAL Circle Listing

```
PROGRAM CIRCLE; 
PROCEDURE PLOT (ON : BOOLEAN; X, Y : INTEGER); 
BEGIN 
IF ON THEN WRITE(CHR(21), CHR(0)) 
ELSE WRITE (CHR(21), CHR(1)); 
INLINE (#FD, #21, #3A, #5C, #DD, #46, 2, #DD, #4E, 4,
#CD, #E5, #22);
END;
PROCEDURE CIRC;
CONST RAD = 50;
VAR
A : REAL;
ON : BOOLEAN;
BEGIN
A : = 0;
ON := TRUE;
REPEAT
PLOT (ON, ENTIER(80 + RAD * SIN(A)),
ENTIER(80 + RAD * COS(A)));
A : = A + 0.5;
UNTIL A > 628;
END;
BEGIN (*MAIN PROGRAM*)
CIRC;
WRITELN ('END OF PROGRAM');
END.
```