ZBefunge

Befunge is a 2D programming language. It's kind of fun and twisted. Some people play with it to see if it is possible - whether you could really make an operating system or computer based on it. Others use it as a tool to get a creative buzz, to play with the unusual.

Inform is a compiler/library for Interactive Fiction (text adventure games). There has been a recent renaissance in text adventure games; a blossoming of the art in the mid 1990s. There are many excellent, modern and free games, some reaching the same quality as professional works from the 1980s. Inform creates Z machine story files, which are the same format as Infocom used for their games. They run on most computer platforms (including palmtops).

ZBefunge is a Befunge interpreter I wrote using the Inform compiler. It has a fully integrated Befunge source editor and debugger.


ZBefunge, ironically running a simple text adventure.

To run ZBefunge you need to get a Z machine interpreter from the IF Archive. I use Frotz, which is available from the Frotz home page. ZBefunge follows the Befunge 93 standard.

zbefunge-0-7.zip (43K) ZBefunge 0.7 distribution, including source code.
zbefunge-0-3.zip (40K) ZBefunge 0.3 distribution, including source code.
bfsrcs.zip (10K) Various Befunge programs, for use with ZBefunge.

Many thanks to Martin Bays for creating version 0.7, which adds long board cells, and several bug fixes. ZBefunge is always in beta testing. Let me know if you find any bugs, or have any comments.

Related software

ZFunge is a largely Befunge 98 compatible Z-machine application created by Martin Bays. It is multithreaded and three dimensional, and supercedes ZBefunge. Provided you like fungular confusion!

Excel Orthogonal is my Excel spreadsheet implementation of Orthogonal, another 2D programming language. Shouldn't every 2D language be in a spreadsheet?

To Francis's page