If you try to run the (unmodified) BASIC code for Oregon Trail (1975) on PDP-8 BASIC, you get this:
DI 30 XC 45 XC 205 … IF 700 NM 730 … (many, many more lines …)
I thought at first it was a stack trace, but nope — it’s error messages! You need to dig through your trusty language manual, and on page 132 it has a table to explain:
DI ERROR IN DIM STATEMENT IF ERROR IN IF STATEMENT NM MISSING LINE NUMBER XC CHARS AFTER END OF LINE
(and yes, they’re in all-caps. Mixed case? Mixed feelings!)
So whenever Python throws a tantrum (or as it calls it, an exception) and wails at length about its problems, remember PDP-8 BASIC: Two letters + a line number. That’s all.
