USEFUL FOR LINUX AND MAC!
WHY IS KBASIC USEFUL FOR THE LINUX®, WINDOWS OR MAC® OS X COMMUNITY?
The 21st century should welcome the concept that everybody is able to program an interface for their computer. Programming does not need to be reserved for those few who know how. Programming should be as easy as surfing the web:
- Point and click design
- Point and click to compile and install
- Click the icon to run
The REAL alternative
The modern computer is still inefficient as a labor saving device because it requires programming. Now, if more people could program everything that they need quickly and easily - that means not having to learn syntax, not having to learn keywords - maybe everyone will know how to use a computer in their own unique way.
You have probably heard about 'dirty inefficient code' and 'bad habits' that VB programmers gain. Those were the words of the 1960's, 70's and 80's when you were forced to optimize for minimal RAM and CPU usage. Nowadays, with nearly everyone running at least a Pentium-class processor with at least 32MB RAM, you need not worry about that.
Back to Basic!
Lose the discpline, embrace the usability and simplicity!
KBasic brings us closer to this reality.
Read more
What is it?
BASIC = Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
Standard BASIC
- BASIC is the most English-like programming language on Earth
- Familiar to native speakers of English
- No cryptic syntax - for new programmers, in particular
- Fewer Programming Rules
- some BASIC functions are very similar to SQL functions: LEFT, RIGHT and MID
Example: IF a = 5 AND b < 20 THEN dosomething ELSE dosomethingelse
- KBasic is compatible with best known BASIC functionality:
Keywords: IF, THEN, ELSE, ELSEIF, ENDIF, FOR, EACH, NEXT, LOOP, DO, WHILE, GOTO, GOSUB, INTEGER, STRING, BOOLEAN, LONG, DIM, AS, SUB, FUNCTION, SELECT, CASE, END, TYPE, PRIVATE, PUBLIC, EXIT, OPTION, EXPLICIT, COMPARE, ON, ERROR, STOP, AND, OR, XOR, NOT …
File functions: ACCESS, APPEND, BINARY, INPUT, OUTPUT, RANDOM, CHDIR, MKDIR, RMDIR, FILES, CLOSE, EOF, FILEATTR, FREEFILE, KILL, LOC, LOF, PRINT, NAME, RESET, SEEK, SHELL, WITDH, WRITE …
Additional functions: BEEP, DATE, HEX, TIME …
Mathematical functions: ABS, ATN, COS, SIN, TAN, EXP, LOG, SGN …
Regular datatypes: INTEGER, STRING …
User definied datatypes: TYPE, ARRAY …
KBasic Extension
I want to allow the user to use modern programming techniques. To that end, I added some new features to the Standard BASIC language.
- Object-Oriented features like user defined classes and using the best ideas from other programming languages
- Database support
What can I do with it?
It is possible to do a lot with BASIC. Do you know what language most real scientists, not computer scientists, use to test their theories and build demos for colleagues? BASIC. It is easy to use and has enough graphics to prove the point with simple simulations. Not even VB, usually. Traditionally it has been QBasic for plain old DOS or a Macintosh variant of BASIC.
Who needs that?
- I think bringing BASIC to Linux would continue a trend in flexibility.
- For most Windows users, VB is the only language they know
- There are millions of VB developers out there in corporate jobs using it
- If 99% of the millions of programmers who switch to Linux to write KBasic programs are bad, we are still left with the 1% - how many thousand? - which are writing good programs which are useful.
- It is the easiest language for beginners, who do not want to get into low level programming
- If we want Linux to succeed in the mainstream, we need to provide the same functionality that exists in the mainstream.
- The system which has the most developers will win! Ignoring BASIC developers would leave most developers out of Linux.
- Professional programmers do not wish to learn a new language every 3-5 years. They do want their computer to do what they tell it to. “I do not care if it runs a little slower than C++, as long as it does the job I need done.”
- Many people love BASIC
- Support broader clientele and languages for the masses
- All people who want to save money like schools, universities, developers with some spare time, and, of course, software vendors
- If you think a BASIC language would be useless send an e-mail to M$ and ask them why do they continue to develop VB.
Historical examples
“Where are the applications?”
Remember the situation with OS/2 (a bad example). Its measurements of “success” has languished for years.
There are hundreds of VB applications that are in use besides commerical VB applications. Business uses a lot of VB to get things done, because of its ease of use. Now, if they could port those apps to Linux …
Why BASIC?
- BASIC is the beginner's programming language. And why not support Beginners?
- BASIC is not always the best, but it is certainly not the least.
- Not everyone has the time, patience and skill to learn C/C++ or Python.
- And I believe every programming language has its advantages.
Useful for Linux / Mac OS X / other projects?
Because the bigger the Linux/Mac user base becomes, the more willing hardware and software producers will be to port existing software, supply drivers, or write new software. They would see a possible profit instead of just a goodwill donation to the Linux/Mac community.
Everything that makes Linux/Mac what it is now and what it will become is a direct result of the people who work with it. And the more people that discover Linux/Mac and come on board, the bigger and better the possibilities become.
I think bringing BASIC to Linux/Mac would continue a trend in flexibility.
Why have I started a new BASIC project?
- Short answer: I have missed a good BASIC language/IDE in 2000.
- Long answer: I had searched the internet and found some BASIC languages for Linux. I looked at the source code, but no one could convince me.