These are the files supporting a series of blog posts on programming for CP/M with example programs.
There is a slide show that accompanies the detailed talk that I presented at BoatFest 2025 an international retro-computer festival.
The festival broadcast the talk on a Twitch Live Stream.
In the talk we show several Hello World programs that we compile and run.
Using the CP/M provided assembler and loader we can run a simple Hello World program.
- source
- Assemble: asm hello
- Load: load hello
- Run: hello
With BASIC we are using both the MBASIC interpreter and the Microsoft BASCOM compiler with the same code.
- source
- Run the interpreter: mbasic hello.bas
- Compile: BASCOM =HELLO /E
- Link: L80 HELLO,HELLO/N/E
- Run: hello
Pascal is the Borland Turbo Pascal IDE. This tool allows you to edit, compile, and run without ever leaving to tool.
- source
- Start the IDE: turbo hello.pas
For C we used the Astec C compiler as it was one of the first for CP/M
- source
- Compile: cz hello
- Assemble: as hello
- Link: ln hello.o -lc
- Run: hello
The Fortran compiler is the Microsoft Fortran80 system.
- source
- Compile: f80 hello,hello=hello
- Link: l80 hello,forlib/s,hello/n,/e:hellow
- Run: hello
The COBOL compiler is the Microsoft Cobol80 system.
- source
- Compile: cobol hello,hello=hello/r
- Link: l80 hello/n,hello/e
- Run: hello
These are PDFs that I found and downloaded for my own reference.
- CP/M 2.0 Users Guide
- CP/M Programmers Handbook
- 8080 Progeramers Manual
- MS BASIC-80 Reference Manual
- MS COBOL-80 User & Reference Manual
- MS FORTRAN-80 Users Manual
- Aztec C Users Manual
- Turbo Pascal Reference Manual
- ED - Line Editor Reference Manual
- CP/m 1.4 Interface Guide
Here are the, currently active, links to all the sites on the web where I gathered information, inspiration and other resources.
All of the information from WIkipedia is used under the Creative Commons License
- Programming Language
- PL/M
- Assembler
- MBASIC
- C Programming Language
- Aztec C
- Turbo Pascal
- COBOL
- Fortran
- The Humongus CP/M Software Archive
- The Unofficial CP/M Web site
- CP/M Internals
- Gaby's Hompage for CP/M and Computers
- CP/M History, Legacy and Emulation
- Vintage CP/M Computers
- CPUville - Designing, Building, and Selling Obsolete Computers
- Small Computer Central (Kits and more)
- Obsolescence Guaranteed
- RomWBW
- Yet Another Z-180
- Retrocomputing Archive
- cpmtools
- Forth Intrest Group
- Forth-80
- simh references
- ZXCC - C Cross Compiler
- Guidlines for Writting CP/M Software
- 8-BIt History
- Tech Tinkering CP/M Ariticles
- Steve's Old Computer Museum
- Virtue of 8-bit era
- More 8-bit era micros
- Vintage Computing (deramp.com)
- retrotechnology.net
- DigiBarn Computer Museum
- Z-80 and CP/M Resources
- Z-80 Official support page
- 50 Years of Personal Computer OS
- The 1979 CP/M OS— How Does It Look Today?