In addition, SBasic offered developers structured programming concepts, including recursion and nesting.
Among the more advanced features was the ability to "base" a variable or array, making the memory location dynamic and modifiable during execution.
The language was written in a subset of itself and compiled using a .com kernel, then stored on diskette (or hard drive on the last KayPro model).
This encouraged open-source-like modification of the language, with some early pre-Internet user groups exchanging physical diskettes by regular mail.
Pournelle added, "If I had to give an award for the most unreadable computer document I've ever seen, the original S-BASIC manual would win hands down"; however, Kaypro had rewritten it and "is a great deal more sensible".