Commodore VIC-20 User Manual page 32

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When the comma was used in the first PRINT statement, the
VIC placed the letters on the screen, but separated them by
several spaces. When the semicolon was used, the VIC
displayed the two letters close together.
In the first case, the letters are exactly 11 spaces apart. That
fact gives a clue to what's happening. The VIC divides the
screen area into two equal parts.
Whenthe VIC is PRINTing two messages or numbers separated
by a comma, it puts the first item on the left side of the screen
and the second on the right...
The first item is longer than 11 characters.
tf the first item is less than (or equal to) 11 characters, the VIC
PRINTs it and then moves to the center of the screen to display
the second item. If the first item is longer than 11 characters,
the second item appears on the next line. Clear the screen, and
try this example:
PRINT "ABCDEFGHIJKL", "X"
The screen will show:
The first part of the message is 12 characters long, so the "X"
ends up on the next line. Repeat this example with a semicolon
(;) between the two items.
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