APPLESOFT II BASIC is APPLE'S very much extended BASIC language. BASIC has been extended because there are many features on the APPLE II computer that just aren't available on other computers that use BASIC. By adding a few new words to the BASIC language, these features are Immediately available to anyone using APPLESOFT. Among the features supported by APPLESOFT are apple's color graphics, high-resolution color graphics and the direct analog inputs (the game controllers).
Another feature of APPLESOFT is this manual. It is not a self-teaching manual, since APPLE provides a separate manual (the APPLE II BASIC Programming Manual ) which will help you learn to program even if you have never touched a computer before. This manual assumes that you know how to program in BASIC and just wish to learn the additional features offered by APPLESOFT. Chapter 1 (GETTING STARTED) is a quick run-through of what the language has to offer. The rest of the manual is a careful and exact description of every statement in the language and how each statement works. 

This reference manual assumes you have a minimal working knowledge of the programming language BASIC. If you're unfamiliar with BASIC, the APPLE II BASIC Programming Manual can provide an introduction: it covers a version of BASIC which is much like APPLESOFT II, but simpler.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of many APPLESOFT commands, for those who have had little experience programming in BASIC. Many primary concepts are introduced, using examples that you can type into the computer. Appendix B gives pointers on editing APPLESOFT programs.
The notation introduced at the beginning of Chapter 2 is used to describe APPLESOFT'S syntax concisely and unambiguously. It will save you time and effort in understanding how the commands must be structured. You don't need to use this notation yourself, but it will help you answer many questions not specifically discussed in the text.
Chapters 3 through 10 present detailed explanations of APPLESOFT'S commands, grouped by subject matter. 

CHAPTER 3 SYSTEM AND UTILITY COMMANDS

CHAPTER 4 EDITING AND FORMAT- RELATED COMMANDS

CHAPTER 5 ARRAYS AND STRINGS

CHAPTER 6 INPUT/OUTPUT COMMANDS

CHAPTER 7 COMMANDS RELATING TO FLOW OF CONTROL

CHAPTER 8 GRAPHICS AND GAME CONTROLS

CHAPTER 9 HIGH-RESOLUTION SHAPES

CHAPTER 10 SOME MATH FUNCTIONS

Appendix A Getting APPLESOFT BASIC up
Appendix B Program Editing
Appendix C Error Messages
Appendix D Space Savors
Appendix E Speeding Up Your Program
Appendix F Decimal Tokens for Keywords
Appendix G Reserved Words In APPLESOFT
Appendix H Converting BASIC Programs to APPLESOFT
Appendix I Memory Map
Appendix J PEEKs, POKES and CALLs
Appendix K ASCII Character Codes
Appendix L  APPLESOFT Zero Page Usage
Appendix M Differences Between APPLESOFT and Integer BASIC
Appendix N Alphabetic Glossary of Syntactic Definitions and Abbreviations
Appendix 0 Summary of APPLESOFT Commands

Platform: Apple II,  II Plus with 48Kb RAM  Disk 5.25 drive 

               OS: DOS         

System Software (SS:) Programming Language (PL:) BASIC

Version: 1978