{{Infobox programming language
| name = AMOS
| logo =
| paradigm = [[Imperative programming|Imperative]]
| year = 1990
| designer =
| developer = [[François Lionet]] and [[Constantin Sotiropoulos]]
| latest_release_version =
| latest_release_date =
| latest_test_version =
| latest_test_date =
| typing = Static
| implementations =
| dialects = AMOS, Easy AMOS, AMOS Professional
| influenced_by = [[STOS BASIC]]
| influenced =
| operating_system = [[AmigaOS]]
| license = [[BSD license|BSD style license]]
| website = [http://www.clickteam.com/eng/downloadcenter.php?i=58 AMOS and STOS]
}}

'''AMOS BASIC''' is a dialect of the [[BASIC programming language|BASIC]] [[programming language]] implemented on the [[Amiga]] computer. AMOS BASIC was published by [[Europress Software]] and originally written by [[François Lionet]] with [[Constantin Sotiropoulos]]. It is a descendant of [[STOS BASIC]] for the [[Atari ST]]. AMOS BASIC was first produced in [[1990]].

AMOS competed on the Amiga platform with Acid Software's [[Blitz BASIC]]. Both BASICs differed from other dialects on different platforms, in that they allowed the easy creation of fairly demanding multimedia software, with full structured code and many high-level functions to load images, animations, sounds and display them in various ways.

The original AMOS version was [[interpreter (computer software)|interpreted]] which, whilst working fine, suffered from performance problems. Later, an AMOS [[compiler]] was developed, that reduced this problem.

After the original version of AMOS, Europress released two other versions: '''Easy AMOS''', a simpler version for beginners, and '''AMOS Professional''', a more advanced version with added features, such as a better [[Integrated Development Environment|IDE]], [[ARexx]] support, a new [[user interface|UI]] sublanguage and new flow control constructs. Neither of these new versions was significantly more popular than the original AMOS.

AMOS was mostly used to make [[video game]]s (platformers and graphical adventures) and educational software.

The language was mildly successful within the Amiga community. Its ease of use made it especially attractive to beginners.

Perhaps AMOS BASIC's biggest disadvantage was its incompatibility with the Amiga's [[AmigaOS|operating system]] functions and interfaces. Instead, AMOS BASIC controlled the computer directly, which caused programs written in it to have a non-standard user interface, and also caused compatibility problems with newer versions of the operating system.

Today the language has declined in popularity along with the Amiga computer for which it was written. Despite this, a small community of enthusiasts are still using it. The [[source code]] to AMOS has since been released under a [[BSD license|BSD style license]] by [[Clickteam]] - a company that includes the original programmer.

==Software using AMOS BASIC==
* [[ABase]]
* [[Flight of the Amazon Queen]]
* [[Scorched Tanks]]
* [[Spectrapaint]]

==See also==
*[http://alvyn.sourceforge.net/ Alvyn Basic] — An attempt to recreate an [[open source]] [[multiplatform]] [[BASIC (programming language)|BASIC]] [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]], syntax-compatible with AMOS Professional.
*[http://sdlbasic.sourceforge.net/ sdlBasic] — a multiplatform Basic interpreter, multiplaform and open-source, using SDL libraries, very inspired from AMOS.

==External links==
*[http://www.clickteam.com/eng/downloadcenter.php?i=58 Source code for AMOS and STOS (68000 ASM)]
*[http://amos.pspuae.com/ The AMOS Factory] (An AMOS support/community site)
*[http://sourceforge.net/projects/mattathias/ Mattathias BASIC] (Open source AMOS compiler, early alpha)

[[Category:BASIC programming language family]]
[[Category:Game creation software]]
[[Category:Amiga software]]

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