All about QBasic and QuickBasic

What is QBasic/QuickBASIC?

QBasic as well as QuickBasic is an easy-to-learn programming language (and therefore ideal for beginners), based on DOS operating system, but also executable on Windows.

Differences between QBasic and QuickBasic: QBasic is the slimmed-down version of QuickBasic. Compared to QuickBasic, QBasic is limited as it lacks a compiler. Therefore QBasic cannot be used to produce executables (.exe files). The source code (usually files with .bas extension) can only be executed immediately by the built-in QBasic interpreter. Furthermore, QuickBasic has a more extensive command set than QBasic.

Offers on QuickBasic Cafe:

The download section contains a lot of free software for programming in QBasic and QuickBasic, including compilers and interpreters for DOS and Windows, libraries for extending the command set of QuickBasic, sample programs (partially with source code), games and much more.

In addition, articles and tutorials about programming with QBasic and QuickBasic. Please visit our QBasic Forum as well to know more about programming with QBasic and QuickBasic.

QBasic / QuickBASIC - an excellent Introduction in programming for Beginners

Best way to learn programming is to start with a lightweight programming language and a simple compiler. Qbasic (short: QB) has great advantages for pros and beginners that other compilers can't offer:

Helpful on typing proper Code

Code is checked for errors while typing; each expression will be evaluated immediately after typing. By the way, this extraordinary feature is an important reason for the great popularity of QB: the ability to check expressions while typing. This saves a tremendous amount of time when checking the code, in particular for large projects; just because a comma is missing somewhere.

QBasic with modern Windows OS's

Back then, when DOS was the most widely used operating system, QB IDE enjoyed great popularity. On current Windows systems, QBasic / QuickBASIC requires a DOS emulator, e.g. DOSBox.

Some more Features

No installation necessary, QBasic / QuickBASIC is portable and does't affect the system’s registry. When launching QB, a command line window opens that displays a couple of menus with access to standard functions such as editing, searching and debugging, just to name a few. Qbasic is ideally suited to all users, from beginners to experts; it's an impressive code interpreter including a powerful IDE.