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Retrocomputing

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    This... this here is a fantastic answer. I used virtually every tool and technique you list here back in the day, and I didn't know half of this. Marvelously-well-researched, impeccably-cited, and clearly written. I honestly didn't know the answer to OP's question, but having read this, I could now effectively CRAFT an example to illustrate an answer to it, in code. Hats off to you, @Raffzahn. Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 9:13
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    Is there any indication that Applesoft BASIC actually used the hardware stack rather than some other software stack? Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 11:57
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    @jcaron What more indication' would you need beside the shown original manual? Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 16:14
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    A quick look through the source code seems to indicate it does indeed use the system stack github.com/cmosher01/Apple-II-Source/blob/master/src/system/… Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 16:39
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    @jcaron Yes, it is as what we take fro granted today, can rarely be projected back. That's true for technology the same way as for any other part of life. With you citation you may want to notice the "most of those" right before, which refers to the ALGOL type languages which use a stack for data structures by default. Pascal is an ALGOL language, BASIC not (At least as far as original BASIC and most early BASICs go Some later did add the notion of procedures and local variables which do need a stack for data) Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 16:57