ID:276114
 
Does anyone know where I can find some BASIC tutorials AND a BASIC compiler. I am interesting in learning this, as It would give me a big boost in school next year.
try ChipmunkBASIC! it's cross-platform for Windoze, Linux, MacOS 6/7/8/9/X, and PalmOS! can even do a bit of Object-Oriented Programming with it! :) I have it on my Visor Handheld with a few custom programs i made for pencil-n-paper gaming (encounter tables, character-sheet storage, random treasure output). it works quite nicely as a straight-forward implementation of BASIC.

(gratuitious linkage) http://www.nicholson.com/rhn/basic/
there's even a version of ChipmunkBASIC for PlayStation PSX (with 3D demo) - http://psxdev.dragut.net/
In response to digitalmouse
www.blitzbasic.com

In response to Broly103
http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/

Dark Basic is pretty cool, it dosent come with any modelers though. =/
In response to SuperAntx
Why spend $150 on something when you can get a language that can do more and learn it for free instead, taking 150 days instead of dollars?

I suppose it depends on how much you can do with Dark Basic and how easy it is, but when I was considering buying it, everyone told me it was a waste of money.
In response to Loduwijk
My friend got it for cheap, don't remember how, I have a burnt copy and everything works fine.
If you can find a used computer shop that deals in the old stuff, try to look up a Commodore64 and one of the BASIC instruction books that came with it. That's how I started programming back in the day.

On top of learning BASIC from its roots, when people start babbling about the Commodore line of products (like I do occasionally) you can say "Oh yeah, that stuff is fun." instead of "I wouldn't know, as I never got to use one of those."

Not the best of languages at all, but it's a lot of fun to start out with, and extremely easy to learn. I was programming small text games within days of starting, and that was back when I was about nine years old, maybe even a year or two before that since I can't remember the time frame well.

If you do, and if you can already program in DM using the Byond package, you will be able to pick it up in minutes.
I couldn't understand how to download and use the Chipmunk one. All the files were some wierd stuff.


Are there any free ones I can start off with? Then move up?
In response to ITG Master
What kind of BASIC are they teaching at your school? QBasic? Visual Basic? (Those are the two usual kinds taught in schools; probably because they're both Microsoft products.)

If QBasic/QuickBASIC, you can find copies all around the 'net; Google for a copy. I think it definitely qualifies as abandonware by now. =) (QuickBASIC is similar to QBasic, but better.) That's the language I first learnt with, heh.

If Visual Basic: (1) I pity you. (2) It's not free.
In response to ITG Master
not sure how it could be any easier! you write up your program in your favorite text editor, save it with the extension .bas in the same directory as ChipmunkBASIC, and to run the program by doing 'basic (your filename here)' from the DOS prompt. seems pretty straightforward to me.

also the webpage gives gobs of help and tutorials in the lower half of the page. look under "Chipmunk Basic Documentation" and you'll see lots of manuals and a 4-part tutorial. the last four sections give you links to sample programs and games written in BASIC too.

and if you don't like Chipmunk, at the bottom of the page is a long list of other BASIC interpreters available.
In response to digitalmouse
Does it work for windows?
In response to Crispy
Quickbasic is EVIL!

And it was the first language I learnt to do anything serious in. Crappy snake game, anyone?

I still use it occasionally. I wrote a program to do matrix encryption, and I wrote it in Quickbasic, for some reason.
In response to Loduwijk
Loduwijk wrote:
Why spend $150 on something when you can get a language that can do more and learn it for free instead, taking 150 days instead of dollars?

I suppose it depends on how much you can do with Dark Basic and how easy it is, but when I was considering buying it, everyone told me it was a waste of money.

DarkBASIC provides a bunch of built in game creation functionality...you can do 3D stuff with just a couple lines of code, etc.
In response to Jp
Jp wrote:
Quickbasic is EVIL!

And it was the first language I learnt to do anything serious in. Crappy snake game, anyone?

I still use it occasionally. I wrote a program to do matrix encryption, and I wrote it in Quickbasic, for some reason.

QuickBasic isn't evil. Visual Basic is evil. :P
In response to Jon88
Visual Basic is QBasic's evil brother, QBasic is BASIC's evil brother.

In other words BASIC has evolved from good to bad over the years. BASIC itself is one of the best languages I've ever used, and still amazes me. (I make all kinds of BASIC programs on my old MS-DOS system, including an operating system that runs programs made in a language I created (and programs made in BASIC/QBasic)...pretty cool!) BASIC is awesome, QBasic is pretty cool, Visual Basic is horrid, end of story.
In response to Jon88
Jon88 wrote:
QuickBasic isn't evil. Visual Basic is evil. :P

Hear hear!

QuickBASIC isn't that great a language for modern purposes, I'll admit, but I still retain a soft spot for it. =) I had great fun with it back in the day.
In response to ITG Master
ITG Master wrote:
Does it work for windows?

Gah! grr.... *reaches through the internet and tries to strangle ITG*

Please read my post carefully, *and* pay attention to the links at the top of the ChipmunkBASIC page. in both cases it clearly stats that there is a version for Windows, Mac, and Linux- a fairly true cross-platform BASIC.

(digi is very sad some people just don't read anymore, and expect everything spoonfed)
In response to digitalmouse
I ment to edit it saying I found the post...I could have swore I did that...
In response to Deadron
Deadron wrote:
DarkBASIC provides a bunch of built in game creation functionality...you can do 3D stuff with just a couple lines of code, etc.

Of course, that is its main purpose. That is why I was thinking of getting it. But is it worth it? I was told no.

Is the syntax logical? Is it object oriented? Giving so much support, does it go much slower than something programmed with OpenGL in C++, or even VB for that matter; or does it compile it efficiently enough that this is not a problem? What if you want more than just a main graphics window; does it support multiple windows easily or would you have to use WinAPI, OpenGL API, or something else, and if so how easily can DLLs be used with it?

Lots of good questions, and I never bothered to look into them because the majority of people I talked to about it said it's junk.
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