Ahh yes! Good Old QBasic...whadya think of programing today?

[Anonymous]

Matt the Great
http://www.CreativeGraphicSolutions.BIZ
Ahh yes! Good Old QBasic...whadya think of programing today?

(I wanted to post this topic in http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/phi ... ophy.shtml but was unable, so I've posted it here.)

The first time I really got into programming was with GWBASIC. I found a game called "Poison Ivy" in a book from K-Power, then I studied the code until I "got it". It was a simple text-graphics game where your character was a smiley face trying to escape a poison ivy patch, but I was delighted with what could be achieved with a page or two of coding. Later I moved on to QBasic and continued teaching myself to program.

Although being self-taught was hard, I became fairly skilled and coded a number games (many unfinished) including "Pong", a Tron-style wall game, and a 2-player tank game. One thing about QBasic is that you can jump right in and come up with something fun pretty quick... and if blocky 80s-style graphics and punchy-crunchy sound effects make you nostalgic, QBasic can be a real playground.

For a time QBasic was the only programming utility I owned. While QBasic is certainly limited, even clunky, I was able to create some practical utilities to help with my Internet business. I programmed an application to rename web pages while updating the HTML links for the site. Another application I made would convert files names to all lowercase for uploading to a web server, (Windows doesn't care about file name case but the Internet does!) Yet another program I made presented web traffic for a user-specified list of web pages, (looking back it seems almost humorous to have created a sophisticated application such as this in QBasic, but it worked!)

Eventually I learned about Perl. I needed a language for web related programming, and I had once even considered if it was possible to install QBasic on my web server. But I found a great Perl site called www.cgi101.com which was instrumental in getting me started with the new language. Although Perl was unfamiliar and it was a little tricky figuring out the Perl equivalents for QBasic functions, I also purchased the Book "Programming Perl" and was off in no time.

If anyone likes QBasic because it is accommodating and lets you avoid laborious pre-coding, than they would LOVE Perl. Perl is smart, powerful, and hassle free... unfortunately Perl is text-based; no graphics unless you are using it to generate web pages. Perl is suited for database, file management, and internet related programming, which is great for my line of work.

I have found QBasic to be still useful for testing ideas and graphing mathematical equations. I have also gone back a few times to play around in QBasic just because it's fun. In the earlier days of personal computing there was a large community of programming hobbyists. I think many home computers came with their own programming application then, and so anybody with a sense of adventure could jump in and attempt to program. Now-a-days when you purchase a Windows computer you don't get anything to make your own programs, which I think is unfortunate (you don't even get a good shell language). I kind of get an impression that a potential group of fun and adventurous lower-level programmers have been pushed aside, (and excluded from the larger sphere of programmers, some are left clinging to the happy memory of "basic" programming.)

What do you think...? Shouldn't computer systems ENCOURAGE new programmers and their programs? Wouldn't it be practical and pleasant for new systems to always come with some kind of compiler or program language? Are the other non-Windows systems (Mac, Linux, ...) the same way? Has the earlier kind of programming hobbyist become extinct, or can you still find similar communities of programmers today? If so, what languages do they use, and is it easier or harder to become involved than it once was?

Having moved on to a more professional level programing, I have found the Perl language to be something I continually appreciate. But if I want to create a stand-alone GUI based application, I'll have to use the clunky QBasic language, dig up a compiler from somewhere, and hope that PCs will continue to support it... or I'll have to employ another language. C++ or Java seems like the way to go, but C++ appears to be a bit demanding and unmerciful (to my understanding you even have to program the memory management for your own program!) and Java is not truly a stand-alone language.

If only someone would create a program language that...
* Could be compiled into a stand-alone executable.
* Included a 2D and 3D graphics engine.
* Did not insist on doing everything within the ridged structure of what IT thinks is best but would allow you do some of the programming as YOU see fit.
* Would take care of the more tiresome issues of programming like memory management.
* Would have the flexibility of the Perl language along with the "WOW-DID-I-REALLY-JUST-PROGRAM-THAT?!" quality of the QBasic language.

If anyone knows of a programming language like THAT I'd like the hear about it!

Regards to all,


Matthew S.
mattw@inbox.com
www.CreativeGraphicSolutions.BIZ
"Design, Web, and Print Services"

[burger2227]

As to adding beginner programming to new computers, I seriously doubt that M$ would go for it. They could already add NET Express as they offer it for free as a download.

However, NET has turned VB into a much more complex language. Most other options like Java and C take some real effort to learn! Kids are not usually going to take that much effort in the beginning. Neither are teachers!

Basic is not just a great beginner language, it keeps kids interested enough to learn more. When they get older, then they may move to other programming options. Qbasic is fairly straight forward and not just for nostalgia! I'm older than most here and consider it the first step to feeling the power of telling a computer what to do. Once that fire is lit, the possibilities are endless!

I only wish more young people were aware that Qbasic even exists!

Ted