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FreeBasic

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Re: FreeBasic

#41

Post by guraf »

DeathArrow wrote: post #9

I learned Basic on a ZX Spectrum clone when I was a kid. It was harder to structure the code because there were no functions and subroutines, just line numbers and goto. No while, no fors. Just ifs. When I've learned x86 assembly later, it didn't seem too different to me. This variant of Basic is more close to Pascal for me than the Basic I've learned.

> there were no functions and subroutines, just line numbers and goto. No while, no fors. Just ifs

Your memory is a little hazy because the ZX Spectrum had both subroutines and for loops (I believe all Sinclair machines did).

Re: FreeBasic

#43

Post by DeathArrow »

bzzzt wrote: post #21
DeathArrow wrote: post #9

I learned Basic on a ZX Spectrum clone when I was a kid. It was harder to structure the code because there were no functions and subroutines, just line numbers and goto. No while, no fors. Just ifs. When I've learned x86 assembly later, it didn't seem too different to me. This variant of Basic is more close to Pascal for me than the Basic I've learned.

I've started on the ZX Spectrum too, as I recall the built-in BASIC had GO SUB and RETURN statements so you could do subroutines. It even had FOR loops. Allowing only a single letter for string variable names was a pain though ;)

Then I don't have a good memory of it.

Re: FreeBasic

#44

Post by DeathArrow »

bzzzt wrote: post #21
DeathArrow wrote: post #9

I learned Basic on a ZX Spectrum clone when I was a kid. It was harder to structure the code because there were no functions and subroutines, just line numbers and goto. No while, no fors. Just ifs. When I've learned x86 assembly later, it didn't seem too different to me. This variant of Basic is more close to Pascal for me than the Basic I've learned.

I've started on the ZX Spectrum too, as I recall the built-in BASIC had GO SUB and RETURN statements so you could do subroutines. It even had FOR loops. Allowing only a single letter for string variable names was a pain though ;)

Then I don't have a good memory of it.

GO SUB line number isn't the same as using GOTO?

Re: FreeBasic

#45

Post by jmmv »

k310 wrote: post #19

I looked up BASIC for mac, and lo and behold, there seems to be only one, by Nikolay Denislamov that is useful, and it's limit-ware (program size) and $12 to go "premium". Not even GAMBAS. I found Basic! and techBASIC on the ipad, and they might run on Apple Silicon. The latter is not in the appstore these days.(It seems to have morphed into something else) (quick download) Basic! runs on Ventura/MacMiniM2. How well…

What features are you looking for and what kind of “Mac support”? EndBASIC runs natively on macOS :)

Re: FreeBasic

#46

Post by Zardoz84 »

DeathArrow wrote: post #9

I learned Basic on a ZX Spectrum clone when I was a kid. It was harder to structure the code because there were no functions and subroutines, just line numbers and goto. No while, no fors. Just ifs. When I've learned x86 assembly later, it didn't seem too different to me. This variant of Basic is more close to Pascal for me than the Basic I've learned.

weird clone. ZX Basic had for loops. I know very well because I wrote a program to help me to memorice multiplication tables on a ZX Spectrum when I was a kid .

Re: FreeBasic

#48

Post by Daunk »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #3

I really miss the Blitz Basic family of game engines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_BASIC After reading the wikipeda page I found out Mr Sibly made them open source in 2014. I wonder if there is much community around them now?

Check out blitzmax.org and what NG offers.

Re: FreeBasic

#49

Post by accessvector »

marttt wrote: post #17
jessehorne wrote: post #2

I started programming when I was around 12. My teacher told me about how he learned BASIC in school...so I went home and looked up BASIC. I had a lot of fun messing around with qbasic/qb64 and finally FreeBASIC. Semi-related but one of my favorite books of all time was Creating Adventure Games On Your Computer by Tim Hartnell. It's wild to think how much of an impact that book and FreeBASIC had on me. If I could upvo…

Thanks very much for this book reference. Our son (10yo) is learning to code and after quite a bit of research (and to my own huge surprise), I've pointed him to QBASIC (via DosBOX). I'm just a hobbyist, and approaching 40, so maybe this is pure nostalgia. But I do think text adventures (especially writing one yourself) are still a great way to teach coding -- and the whole keyboard-centric paradigm of computing. As…

I started programming with QBASIC at about 10 years old, too, after randomly coming across a book called “Practise Your BASIC”. It’s a great book and Usborne recently released it for free: https://usborne.com/gb/books/computer-and-coding-books

Re: FreeBasic

#50

Post by marttt »

tomcam wrote: post #39
marttt wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks very much for this book reference. Our son (10yo) is learning to code and after quite a bit of research (and to my own huge surprise), I've pointed him to QBASIC (via DosBOX). I'm just a hobbyist, and approaching 40, so maybe this is pure nostalgia. But I do think text adventures (especially writing one yourself) are still a great way to teach coding -- and the whole keyboard-centric paradigm of computing. As…

Not on topic but your English is perfect. Indistinguishable from a native, at least in written form.

Oh, I don't recall anybody ever explicitly saying something like this to me. Makes me happy for sure, especially considering that I actually did not learn the English language at school back in the day; we had German. Many thanks!

Those Sierra adventures probably did have a considerable, even huge impact on my early encounters with the English language, though. Basically, it was "learning by typing" [1], so it must have greatly contributed to the grasp of grammar and spelling early on.

This is actually a reason why I still consider text adventures a great learning tool for children. The child is playing a game (or coding their own), but because it is so text-heavy, they also improve their language and writing skills, without even noticing it. Leisure Suit Larry style jokes are not a compulsory part of this syllabus, though. :)

1: "Ken sent me"! :) https://invidious.protokolla.fi/watch?v=JWlTR29stts

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