QBasic Tutorials: Starting QBasic Part 1 - 3

The Beginning - What Is QBasic?

For those of you that don't have a clue what qbasic is then take note. If you know what it is but don't know how to use it then you can still use this to learn. QBasic is a computer programming language which anyone can use providing you learn the language as it is not a language which you type in english, you will need to learn a specific language, which you can begin to learn as this tutorial goes on. What can I make with it?? Well you can make games, applications, utilities, sounds, etc. It is totally compatible with everything!! It is owned by Microsoft, and is free for you to use.

Part 1 - Using QBasic

To use qbasic obviously you will need to have it present on your pc. Getting qbasic couldn't be easier, as it is available from the Pickers Games Website, www.pickersgames.co.uk, from our site, you can download either qbasic1.1 or qbasic4.5. We recommend that you download version 4.5 as it has better features and runs programs faster!!

Part 2 - Starting up QBasic

Once you have qbasic on your pc, you should install it to somewhere where you know where it is. The to run qbasic go into the directory where qbasic is present and double-click on Qb.exe(version4.5) or Qbasic.exe(version1.1). Once you have opened qbasic you will get a blue screen, where you type in the code.

To run the programs you will HAVE to press F5 - the same with all versions!!


Part 3 - Useful things to know

When you type in a ' in qbasic it tells qbasic to ignore whatever is after that, it is called commenting, because it allows you to comment on your work, it is mainly used to remind yourself of something so you don't forget! It works like this:

' whatever you want to say

Also dont worry about typing in capitals because qbasic will convert it for you, it is a good way of telling if you have put in a correct statement becasuse it will be transformed to capital letters. So if it is not you know there is something wrong with your code.