Learning to code in TI-Basic
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2026 9:05 am
Hi everyone! Before you read on, this is not a tutorial in anyway, I will not be guiding you or teach you how to code in TI-Basic. Why? Because this thread is documenting MY process of learning TI-Basic. As many people know, I haven't really done anything in TI-Basic yet, nor learned how to use most of it, and I have quite the hard time trying to read some of the code from here. My plan is, each day, I will create a program (probably harder or with new features than the previous one) in TI-Basic, as well as documenting it here. I'm not sure how long this is going to last for, but honestly I want to end when I master it! 
Week 1:
Day 1:
I created a random number guessing game (a classic) in TI-Basic, it picks a number from 1 to 100, and you pick a number, gives you hints to decide the next number (like if it's lower or higher) until you get the number right! So far, I haven't learned anything, because this is just purely what I know of TI-Basic.
Day 2:
I created a program that gets the length of the hypotenuse from the adjacent and opposite side lengths using the Pythagorean theorem.
Day 3:
I made a program that shows a 1 on the screen falling and falling forever. I ended up learning there was no wait or sleep command, and you unfortunately just had to do a for loop repeating for a number of times. I didn't use it, but maybe some day I will.
Day 4:
I made a program that detects when you press a key, and gives the keycode for it. I learned about the getKey command and the Repeat loop.
Day 5:
I made a program that detects when you press the enter key, and ends the program. It may seem like a step backward from the last day, however I learned how to use the GOTO and LBL commands.
Day 6:
I made a program that puts a random number on the screen randomly, and clears the screen each time after 10 iterations. I learned that multi-line if statements require a "then" block.
Day 7:
I made a DVD screensaver like program for the day of the week! Sometimes it works, sometimes it gets stuck in a loop, and sometimes it gives a domain error..
Week 1:
Day 1:
I created a random number guessing game (a classic) in TI-Basic, it picks a number from 1 to 100, and you pick a number, gives you hints to decide the next number (like if it's lower or higher) until you get the number right! So far, I haven't learned anything, because this is just purely what I know of TI-Basic.
Code: Select all
PROGRAM:GUESS
:randInt(1,100)->A
:0->B
:While A≠B
:Prompt B
:If B>A
:Then
:Disp "LOWER"
:End
:If B<A
:Then
:Disp "HIGHER"
:End
:End
:Disp "CORRECT!"
I created a program that gets the length of the hypotenuse from the adjacent and opposite side lengths using the Pythagorean theorem.
Code: Select all
PROGRAM:HYPOT
:Prompt A
:Prompt B
:√(A^2+B^2)->C
:Disp C
I made a program that shows a 1 on the screen falling and falling forever. I ended up learning there was no wait or sleep command, and you unfortunately just had to do a for loop repeating for a number of times. I didn't use it, but maybe some day I will.
Code: Select all
PROGRAM:FALLING
:ClrHome
:1->Y
:While 1
:Output(Y,8,1)
:Y+1->Y
:ClrHome
:If Y>8
:1->Y
:End
:EndI made a program that detects when you press a key, and gives the keycode for it. I learned about the getKey command and the Repeat loop.
Code: Select all
PROGRAM:GETKEY
:Repeat Ans
:getKey
:End
:Ans->K
:Disp KI made a program that detects when you press the enter key, and ends the program. It may seem like a step backward from the last day, however I learned how to use the GOTO and LBL commands.
Code: Select all
PROGRAM:GOTOLBL
:ClrHome
:Lbl A
:0->B
:getKey->B
:If B≠105
:Goto AI made a program that puts a random number on the screen randomly, and clears the screen each time after 10 iterations. I learned that multi-line if statements require a "then" block.
Code: Select all
PROGRAM:FUN
:ClrHome
:0->X
:While 1
:X+1->X
:Output(randInt(1,8),randInt(1,16),randInt(0,9))
:If X≥10
:Then
:ClrHome
:0->X
:End
:EndI made a DVD screensaver like program for the day of the week! Sometimes it works, sometimes it gets stuck in a loop, and sometimes it gives a domain error..
Code: Select all
PROGRAM:DVD
:ClrHome
:Prompt X
:Prompt Y
:1->D
:While 1
:If D=1
:Then
:X+1->X
:Y+1->Y
:End
:If D=2
:Then
:X+1->X
:Y-1->Y
:End
:If D=3
:Then
:X-1->X
:Y+1->Y
:End
:If D=4
:Then
:X-1->X
:Y-1->Y
:End
:If Y=8
:Then
:1+D->D
:End:
If X=16
:Then
:1+D->D
:End
:If Y=1
:Then
:1+D->D
:End
:If X=1
:Then
:1+D->D
:End
:If D=5
:Then
:1->D
:End
:ClrHome
:Output(Y,X,8)
:End
