hmm... this thread developed the general taste that BASIC is a kind of magic: the language itself is quite simple, indeed, but what really makes the difference is how easy it is to use the resources of the machine.
Specifically, AMOS was an easy language in the sense that it easily permitted to use graphics, sounds, etc. (with all the deriving limitations).
AMOS' While...Wend is nothing easier than C's or Pascal's; but AMOS had commands like "Screen Open", which immediately allows the programmer to open a screen and play with it knowing nothing about Intuition.
I've programmed a lot in AMOS and I can say that its only severe limitations - apart from speed - were lack of datatypes definition, structured datatypes, real functions (Def Fn is almost a joke, and the Param mechanism is way too clumsy) and real constants (ever tried to compile programs which make use of it? They just crash. And constants are awfully weird to work with,too).
Some may also miss OO mechanisms, but I think that it would be just too much.
Stylewise speaking, it's a matter of personal tastes.
Otherwise I think AMOS is quite nice, and I did enjoy using it over the years, despite my fave language is asm.
Read the BabeAnoid thread on amigaworld.net (ooops! what did I dare to say?!? :-P) for more considerations about AMOS and BASIC in general.
[EDIT]
Ah, one last thing: another reason that makes BASIC more friendly than other language is that it is generally interpreted and thus has the great advantage of immediate on-the-fly testing.
Regards,
saimo
