Welcome to Pete's QBASIC Site!


QB Philosophy
Or "Why we still program in QB."

QuickBasic is an old and outdated language. It's slow. It's not used by professionals. It's quite limited. It's DOS-based. The only way to get decent speed is to use Assembly code. There are dozens of reasons NOT to program in QB...

And yet, we still program in it. Why? Well, we all have our own reasons. This section is for QB programmers to explain why they choose QB over other languages, despite its numerous downfalls. Yes, this is where you, the QB programmer, can explain your "QB Philosophy." (Fill out the form at the bottom of the page to comment on your QB Philosophy.)

Kush: its just awsome
Qbasic is just an awosme progaming langauge. I've tried to learn C++ twice the first time I just thought wow I don't think I'll ever try computer programing again. The second after I learned QB I thought wow why program in C++ when the text has to be realy neat and you have to put a stupid ; after every dang line and it takes 7 lines just to print 1 thing on the stupid screen. I just had an argument with my mom about programing in QB she says I shouldent use a programing language based on one my dad learned in 8th or 9th grade she says I should learn C++ or Perl or any other stupid new programing language but why in qbasic you can use SVGA and make it faster and all that.


Homepage: www.srt.com/~main850
Posted on: July 22, 2006
 
Ryan Lloyd: How I first got started with QB...
I recall a while ago when the game Riven: The Sequel To MYST came out, me and my dad were obsessed. We'd play it until late in the night. I remember that my dad was working on a program in QB that made the icon of Riven: The Moiety Dagger. Me and him would play with it when he was finished, make it show different colors. And I remember that's when I really started getting into it, just by playing with some PRINT statements and drawing some simple lines and rectangles and making small, pointless programs of my own. (But then again, I guess I can't really say they were pointless. Else I probably wouldn't be where I am today.)
But nowaday's I'm in my second year at a community college studying Computer Science, the main languages I use are C, C++, and ASM. If it weren't for QB, I probably would have never been where I am today.

But I have not fully given up on my QB roots: I recently figured out about the language FreeBasic, and I played with it. It's a pretty sweet language, in fact. It has basis of QB, yet I can use pointers in it, and do low-level editing with it, making it perfect for one of my current hobbies: Operating System Development.

But yeah, That's how QB rests in my heart as something I won't forget.

Posted on: July 14, 2006
 
Nuke: I start too many projects to stop!
Qbasic is what I started with back in 1996 when I was 11. I didn't really start programming a lot in it until around 1999. (Before that I just ran other peoples programs. It was like an endless supply of free games. :P) I love Qbasic, it's the simplist and easiest language I've tried. The great thing about Qbasic is, once you learn a little bit, you can do so much with that.

I've learned C/C++ and I do have to admit, I like it quite a bit. But when I want to program something that's fun and will give me results fast w/o all the BS, I still stay true to Qbasic. For me, it's like that guilty pleasure you'll never give up. :)

Homepage: http://eriks.servehttp.com/
Posted on: July 12, 2006
 
WillC: The truth
I learned QB when I was 12, because I was bored over the summer. After I learned how to create simple utilities, file I/O, etc., I decided to learn something newer and up-to-date, C++, but I quickly found that the syntax was hard and long, so I stuck to QB. I now know Visual Basic, but like to stick with QB, to design a console version of a program, or to fool around with.

QB Rocks!

Homepage: www.webprowill.4-all.org
Posted on: June 28, 2006
 
Frank Johnson:


Homepage: www.none.com
Posted on: February 16, 2006
 
Tiido Priimägi: QBASIC...
In 2005 april I turned on my old 486 and started to mess with the DOS.
At the command prompt I typed in CD DOS, DIR *.EXE /P and saw a little
program named QBASIC.EXE . I tried it and I didn't get it - text editor
where you cannot type ANY text. Then I wanted to learn how to program
and in an 20 year old book I had a clue... I ran home, started the 486
and quickly ran QBASIC.EXE . With the book in one hand I typed in some
things and magic happened. I wrote my first program !!! Few months later
I wrote my first game which was a number guessing game (I didn't know
nothing much about the language, only PRINT, INPUT, GOTO, GOSUB, SOUND
and some other commands/statements whatever). Then I found QB45 which
was much faster, provided more memory and could do EXE files.
Then I found WWW.QB45.COM and dowloaded some programs and I quickly
saw what can be done in QB !!!
Now I have written about 200 miniature programs and some huge programs
such as TGFedit series which I still develope. I also have 12 years of
real gaming experience (And I'm 16 !!!)and one of my goals is to write
a game that rocks and I just love SEGA and Sonic.
I have tried to learn C/C++ but I found that syntax sucks and you have
to do so many things to get a little thing. Also I have tried Assembly
and personally I think that Assembly is the easiest language next to
QBASIC !!! I have learned lot of things now and I have written something
almost every day.
QBASIC (dispite it's slowness and other disadvantages) is the best
language ever !!!

Homepage: www.hot.ee/tmeeco
Posted on: January 31, 2006
 
TheMG: Why I called my pet Oogle. Wot do you think?
Erm I use QB cos:

1 Its a nice syntax, but still quite powerful
2 I like testing and messing around on it, despite its slowness and dossishnessess
3 Erm cos its the only language capable of fitting on my laptop
4 I dont know what it is, but I'm so much more productive in it. I could program easily for the rest of my life with it and not get bored. Its wierd, its not the BASIC in it, I just like it sooo much. I can write an entire program non stop with it. Its like an old friend, you may not talk that often, but every time you do you really enjoy it. I have an inspiriration to write something, becuase usually making a game'll take forever, but in QBASIC it'll be a walk in the park. QBASIC is so nice, it may not have all the attractions of a modern language like VB, or GML, or C++, or Pascal, or Delphi blah blah blah but then it gets you into this kinda mindset, it dont matter, who cares its shit gfx, bad sound, quite slow or anything. Its the pleasure of programming I dont get from anything else, at total ease with the language. Anyway back to the numbers.
5 O wait I cant be bothered. BYE!

Homepage: F*CK YOU!!! Nah lol its http://at2.byethost4.com, well actually its my programming languages site. I should stop talking. Really.
Posted on: January 30, 2006
 
Harry potter: PscedoCode
It's quite a simple reason really. You need to program it all in DOS. Like C. It's just much simplier. It's like writing it in PscedoCode, checking it works, transfer it to c, get it to work there, then re-write it for speed. It's all about taking time off your brain so you dont have to think so hard ;-) Just my excused never transferred a program to c yet :-)

Homepage: http://www.harrylan.net
Posted on: January 22, 2006
 
RyanKelly: NOT (This OR That)
In the landscape of programming languages, Quick Basic resides upon a mountain, surrounded by mists, and insulated from the world beyond.
At a far extreme, on the other end of the world, should you travel that far, you will find the most intelectually eloquent language ever invented, LISP. In the realm of LISP, from the Basic programmers perspective, things look strange and soft. Symbols are tangled and twisted, and yet somehow slowly unfold under the light of reason. From the high refuge of Quick Basic, LISP doesn't even look like programming. Only the long journey down the mountain and across the wilds of deformed and crippled scripting languages can shape your eyes to see the beauty of a LISP proccessor as it slowly meditates upon itself, always looking inward upon its own mathematical truth. But that is a far way off.
Within view, upon a craggy spire of hard rock, many have seen C. Encrusted upon brittle rock, it is etched by the flow of magma, continually belching sulphur and cracking into new formations. It is a land of iron, maleable and refinable. It is a land of legend and of simplicity. It is a place where a rock is a rock. Nothing moves without being moved.
Pascal, within a country park, is tended by blind gardeners. They care not for the fruit, only for the plant. Their lawns are manicured like model train landscapes, and all sign of contruction is carefully hidden, and it a general rule of the garden that nothing may be taken back to the world beyond.
In the low lands, near the sea lanes of commerce, we can see the cities, some covered in soot while other glitter with novelty. Here we find Visual Basic within the store fronts like plastic costume jewely, gaudy and sophmoric. Java, like an army of paper pusher, incessantly reshuffles itself. Database queery languages man the check out counters and HTML covers everything like shrink wrap. PHP has murdered Pearl as gone unpunished.
Deep within the city, maintained by public funds, a Zoo has been build. In the center is the Penquin House, and nearby you find Python, and awk. Strange animal abound here, only known well by the zoo keepers. Bash, Korn, autoconf, grep, and many creatures thought to be extinct.
The sky is full of the clouds of numbers, vectors, transforms, sets, and function ever shifting, made of nothing.
And deep within the bowls of the earth, beneath everything save the very core of flip flops, busses, and caches, the elements march in constant step. They vary by country and climate, but everywhere composes of bit strings tightly encoded, the machine instruction grind out the rhythm of the world. The adherents of Assembly Language wander above from country to country, shamans of a dark and comfortable tradition, undisturbed by the viccitudes of each country. They visit like prophets the cities and mountains, with the power of old gods, carrying nothing but hex editors and proccessor manuals. To them the sky is as high as a man is tall. They consider the passing clouds and shape the ground to match.
Quick Basic, upon its refuge mountain, remains the keeper of a simple mystery. Its commands lay spread like a painter palette, waiting to be arranged. It waits ready to be awed by innovation, ready to envelope new ideas and soften them with its persistent ethos of "Try and See". Nearby it keeps DOS, caring for it in it old, old age. It has sent FreeBasic down the mountain to soften the cities. Foremost, the mountain is a place that respects the individual, inviting each to develope on his or her own. So long and there are those ready to explore, it will continue upon the mountain.

Homepage: http://www.myspace.com/mrgermantown
Posted on: January 17, 2006
 
Co0kIe: Why I still program in QB. And a short help request.. >;]
Four Reasons:

1) Qbasic is like a condom that doesn't snap.

2) It's a sure fire way to meet ladies. (non-factual statement)

3) Insomnia Factor.

4) It's one of the primary languages I first learned.
The language is extremely simple , and yet quite capable.

Well , that's a few of the reasons anyways. I hate to do this but i'm REALLY in search of help , as i am wanting to make a decent game in QB without massive amounts of code. I'm not particularly new to the language , but i'm just learning about masking and sprites and such.
I understand the concepts and how they are used , but there is a certain problem i have. I spent about 9 hrs making a VERY intricate sprite of a custom megaman , and saved it as a bitmap file.

Herein lies my problem :

I wish i could find a way to have QB read .BMP sprite sheets , but i don't think i'll stumble upon that answer. In the meantime , i'm just gonna try my best to use a bmp viewer and try to BSAVE the sprite. If anyone thinks they can help in finding a relatively SIMPLE way of loading .BMP sprite sheets or anything PLEASE contact me. My info is at the bottom of this paragraph. I apoligize to the owners of the site for using your response board as my begging grounds , but i could really use the help. Thanks.

_,.-Co0k1e (wu_tang_kitty_kill@hotmail.com)

Posted on: November 25, 2005
 
Ray Britton: Because i can...
I still program in QB because:

1)I have tried to do C but pointers, the amount you have to type just to say "Hello World", then i tried Euphoria but similar probs, so reason one is QB is simple to program in.

2)The Community, like other people are saying is amazing, the language can't live forever, unforunatly. But everyone is so friendly and helpful.

oh and
3)Its COOL!!!

Homepage: www.freewebs.com/rbprograms
Posted on: October 31, 2005
 
Josh: WOW!!!
nealy every thing thats writen on this page explains what its like. i started with quick basic, on 2004 christmas i joked around saying i could get a laptop for christmas and funny enough a friend next door had a old thinkpad 35...something XD laptop a big bulky thing with 95 installed (i ended up killing that so it ended up with dos 5 then it died for sure after i put the HD in the wrong way,BANG SIZZLE SIZZLE SIZZLE lol)any way there was a file called qb45.zip so using 11 floppies i installed winzip
and bam i found this program that calls it self quick basic 4.5 wich was kinda good cos i had a interface (robotics) that was coded in QB so i started experementing and after a while i got the hang of it i download over 100 sorce code files and qb tutorials and no im a programer for qb

ok all done with history

the reason i *STILL* program with qb and qb only is that thats what i started with and every piece of programing i think of apears in my head in qb iv tred so many other languages but none of them seem to work for me there to hard or just to me don't make sense. sadly i don't think ill ever change and thats good for now cos its home.

p.s i am 13 now

Posted on: October 7, 2005
 
ARPGME: Because I am a begenner at scripting...
I am a begenner at scriting, I could hardly script in QB, but what inspired me was Ohrrpgce.

Posted on: August 3, 2005
 
elvis: qbsic programing


Homepage: nonon
Posted on: July 31, 2005
 
Mechman: A moment of silence!
One early morning, I a young 13yr old boy helped a old colege profesor clean
his ummm... Lab.

every thing was dusty, after 23hrs of work a few "toys" came out the back.
there was this old apple 2e computer with all its bit and bobs.

i set it up in my room switched it on everthing powered up and then this
happend:














>_
i was very lost.
a few flips thru the manual and i had: 2: Print "HELLO WORLD"
on screen.
ok now "R U N" return

I wrote a game or two.

Then age 15:
p200MHz, 32Mb Ram, 4gb HD, win95, SBpro : qbasic 1.1

Write text games for 2 years! :(

get internet !
google "qbasic"
find qb45.com "very cool"
find maxcode.com "where did it go ?"
DirectQb is released "joy to the world the meat is done! I still love it"

1999
Goto mozabique
start recall plan: do art
sounds
story
engine basis
draw features
Do 38% code: 62% To go

2005
and i hope to finish Recall
57% To go





Homepage: none yet
Posted on: July 9, 2005
 
Dav: Just because

QB was my first love. Nothing feels as good as your first love (don't tell my wife).

Seriously though, nothing beats QB for whipping up a quick tool, for testing out algos, or for playing around with ideas. I use it often for patchers, or to make simple utilities. But, Freebasic is sneaking in my heart...

- Dav

Posted on: June 23, 2005
 
Anlino: Community
Go to google, sand search for QBasic. 543 000 hits, and most of them has good stuff. The community with QBasic is Huge! And most programmers has tested QBasic.

Besides that, is it the feel. You klick on the qb icon, and a blue screen pops up. You feel it right there, that it is NOT som novel or something you are writing. And when you have written a couple of strings, you test it, right there, right then. As soon as you are done, you make an .exe of it. Ready to go, ready to run. Qbasic has a feel that other languages doesnt.

If i would program i C++ right here and now, i would compare it to write the program in QBasic. And that just wouldnt be fair to C++.

Its lika Macintosh. Why do you use Macintosh? Answer: Because Macintosh has a huge community. People is getting obsessed collecting Macs. Why? The same reason we are obsessed program in QBasic.

If you want to write an GUI, use QBasic.
If you want to make a game, do that in QBasic.
If you want to write a copy of paint, word or excel, do that in QBasic.
Games, utilities, graphics, all sorts of program, can come true in one language and one language only:

QBasic.

(Touchdown!)

/Anlino

Posted on: June 13, 2005
 
Vinicius: My professional life started in Basic
I´m a Delphi/C program, and yes, I still programing in Qbasic just for fun I love it! My first computer was a MSX which has a MSX Basic where I learn all about programing, Z80 assembly, pacman game (yes I has my own pacman too) and nowadays exists a lot of languages BUT Qbasic is THE most simple language I know, and this site with your tut and your peoples is the most complete and almost simple to navigate in the net. Excuse-me of my bad english but I should be tankx this community to help-me a lot with your informations!
Tankx guys!

Homepage: none
Posted on: May 12, 2005
 
anarky: What is QB?
HAH! I'm kidding.

Actually i stopped using QB last time I fried my mainboard. I'm moving to FB. But it's hard to break a habit..

*lights a smoke*

>anarky

Homepage: http://www.anarky.tk
Posted on: April 18, 2005
 
Jacob Palm: Because it's fun!
I've programmed in many languages. QBasic, Delphi, Visual Basic and C+ is just the top of the list. But everytime I learn a new language, I return to QBasic sooner or later. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because the language is easy to use and the IDE is user-friendly. Somehow I just feel "at home" in the editor.

I've used Visual Basic a lot. The language is about the same as the QBasic language, but still i prefer QBasic. Why? Because I don't like the fact that Visual Basic makes the code for the windows for you. You draw controls with the mouse, and Visual Basic produces the code for you. In QBasic you have to do that yourself, which makes it more fun, and allows you to make the GUI look like whatever you like.

QBasic has some limits. But I find it very amusing to try and overcome these limits (not by using librarys, but by making my solutions).

And then there is the community. QBasic has a great community.

That's why I use QBasic, and will continue to do so for a long, long time.

Homepage: http:\\www.jacobpalm.dk
Posted on: March 13, 2005
 
tito: As I red once in a QB site QB is a cult thing isn't it?
and because:
- it was the first programing language I learned.
- I love its simplicity
- it has a fast and very friendly IDE(just press F5 and run without compiling)
- I dont have to worry about pointers
- using libraries and assembly you can bypass its limitations
- it shows that there is life beyond C, C++, Java, .NET and Windows
- programming in QBx makes me happy. What else?

Posted on: March 12, 2005
 
Dino: QB was very good to me ...
The best years of my life have been and still are measured around family oriented events -- being there when your own kids are growing up can't be beat.

But if I limit my consideration to things professional ...

The best years of my life spanned from '81 to the mid '90's, the heyday of BASIC. As BASIC matured and developed, I matured and developed along with it. I owe the MS variants of character mode BASIC, all the way through PDS 7.1, a great debt of gratitude. With them and with what God gave me, I built a career and reputation that served me well, and raised a family on the proceeds. At least one of the major apps I wrote in QB 20 years ago is still in production with a previous employer. With no code changed since then, it still supports the interactive design of custom architectural millwork and cranks out the dimensioned drawings, parts lists and machining information to create them.

And though long ago I moved on to manage other IT professionals, I still get the chance to steal a week or few a year, creating the occasional small utility for some repetitive task my non-programming staff would otherwise have to do manually.

True, in later years I moved to VB for Windows apps, but the QBX world is still where I feel most in my element.

I guess I just love it.

Posted on: March 10, 2005
 
MickJW: Why i love QBasic
Im migrated to QB from GWBasic and stayed because i simply love it. Even though it is a slow old language it is a great challenge to get speed from an old language. Also i appreciate helping new people to learn and then to move onward if they so wish. I see QB as THE basic building block that gets people started.

Homepage: none
Posted on: February 23, 2005
 
Nemesis: I use QB, because...
It's the heart of all software. Every other language, (including C/C++) was made in QB! Also, with QB you can do everything the higher level languages can do, plus alot more! It's also the lowest level language in existance, period! And all computers, (even yours) can process only QB's syntax directly. QB is sometimes refered to as, machine language.
Heck, even the most famous os's are coded in QB, yes, even Windows!
Did I mention QB is the fastest most effecient language available too?
So, why would I program in anything else?

Now really, my reason...
QB is the only language I need to develop the games and programs I desire.
Like I said in the last paragraph... why would I program in anything else?



Posted on: December 6, 2004
 
UnionJack: Why I program in QB....
I think its the easiest language to program in. i'm learning c and its just too difficult because its a lower-level language (used for stuff like memory allocations, etc.). if you have to use graphics routines, you have to write them yourself and its terribly annoying....


Posted on: November 11, 2004
 
DLinker: Y use QB?
The answer is simple - 42 :))
to all the Douglas Adams fans - you already knew that ;-)

Posted on: October 25, 2004
 
Nathan Kessler: Becuase I'm bored
Nothing is better than screwing around with QB when I am bored, I can half/finish anywhere drom a war game to an rpg, and arcade shooter to a tect adventure, and I don't have to pay 16.99$ for the full version of GameMaker, even though the free version is really fun to screw around with (www.gamemaker.nl) adn its easyer than QB... hmm... well, anyway, I get bored a lot so MEH!

Homepage: nathantk.topcities.com
Posted on: October 23, 2004
 
PV: Because it's easy, quick, enjoyable, and serves me well
I haven't attempted to make a game in QuickBASIC 4.5 for quite a while. But when I need to make something small and practical that gets a job done, there is NO better language, and NO quicker way to do it than QB. Nothing needed but a small folder with QB.EXE and its compiler files; compiling takes half a second, and there you go. Although we are long past the DOS age and new Windows versions are slowly strangling it, the fact remains: DOS programs are the most stable ever to exist. They never crash without a good reason, unlike Windows which crashes when it pleases and for no reason.
QB appeals to my common sense. That, I think, is why I keep coming back to it.

Posted on: October 15, 2004
 
deibiz_xxl: Why??
I think that new languages have good features, but I can only remember the first time I run QBasic (On my old 486), type PRINT "Hello!" and then run. It was magic for me to see this characters on the screen. Now, 10 years later, I continue programming in QB as a kind of entertainment. I Like it!!

Posted on: October 12, 2004
 
Dark_Prevail: Reasons, reasons...
Quite obviously, QuickBasic is simply the greatest programming language ever written. 'Nuff said.


Well, actually not quite 'nuff said. First of all about the language. You have to try QuickBasic to realise its geniune, laid back nature. It is relaxing to program in, (well as far as C++ isnt ;D), and fun.

Secondly, is the Community. While QB is a dying language, we still have a relatively alive (small, but alive & active) community. While closely knit, we learn to support and help each other through learning and projects. Most of us know each other relatively well, and Its great to be around others who share the same ideas, likes and languages as yourself. As Pete has already mentioned, wheres the point in creating a fantastic game or application, when you dont have a great community to share it with, people to enjoy and comment upon your creations? (Pete, I just had to reiterate your point there, as it was just so darn true!)

Keep on programming guys.

Homepage: http://treefrog.digitalblackie.com
Posted on: September 27, 2004
 
Naps: Student
My personal opinion about Qbasic is its fun. I admire the free spirit, and community. I understand Qbasic as the 'kernal' of home computing experience. The truth though is that I am new to programming, and got QB from the internet. I am also gonna take a Visual Basic class at college. But for sure thing i'll tinker with QB.

Homepage: NONE
Posted on: September 18, 2004
 
matt2jones: because i fucking WANT TO!
Ironicly, at the moment I'm not coding in QB, I'm coding in C cause I don't have QB on this computer and the other one is packed away cause I'm moving house.

I still code in QB because thats the language I learned to code in, and its the language I think in, every possible concievable thing done on a computer I can see how to code in QB (maybe not as efficiantly but... meh), and now that computers are so fast, QB's limitations don't apply anymore, my textured raycaster which was SLLOOOWWW on 200mhz is perfectly acceptable now, and computers can only get faster.

I like QB, because unlike all other languages, you are encouraged to ABUSE it. I like fighting the path of greatest resistance and QB gives that to me. I love it.

matt

Homepage: matt2jones.cjb.net
Posted on: August 19, 2004
 
J.B.: Because I still haven't finished SonicX...
I started programming in 1997 I think. Having found qbasic on the good old win95 CDrom, I was interested in what made the computer run. After not so long, I became intimately familiar with PRINT and INPUT and DRAW, and had managed to make my first RPG. When I later searched qbasic on the internet, I was bloody impressed by the graphics in games like wetspot. So I decided to make a Sonic the hedgehog game. Pete reviewed an early version of it called the SonicX Demo.Anyway, as I worked through the Documentation of DirectQb, I came to the conclusion that if I continued the project it could be a half decent clone of the megadrive game. So, I spent about a weekend every few months working on it. Slowly it got better. Then I reached a point where the size of the code was too large for QB to take.

I was seeking perfection, yet choosing to code my game in a language that couldn't take it. Well, I couldn't be stuffed redoing the project in C++, so I had no choice but to program smarter, to process as much data as possible outside the program. In the end, not programming in QB as much as programming for QB.

Yes, I still program in QB. But when SonicX is finished (2 months to go...), not another line of Qbasic code will leave my mind.

Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/jo9992/qbasic.html
Posted on: August 19, 2004
 
Jeremy: I only have DOS on the computer in my room.
Because it's easy and when I can't get onto the computer I'm on right now, I have to use my really old computer in my room, and on that one Windows 95 stopped working, and it only runs DOS. So QBasic is the best language I can use on DOS. And a lot of programs and games in QBasic run fast on my old computer, because it's only 66 Mhz...

Homepage: http://www.jeremyr.com
Posted on: August 19, 2004
 
Anonymous: Because I am lazy and worried a new language will be too hard.
I chose QB because it had the words Quick and Basic in it, which at least implies it won't be too horribly hard to learn. But for the record, I don't technically even know how to program in QB yet(I'm working on it). But when I read tutorials, the commands make sense. I understand why CLS clears the screen. I once read a tutorial on C(might have been C++) and I didn't get why a command did what it did, which makes it harder for me to remember it. I like QB because of the intuitiveness(I believe that's the word I'm looking for) of it. Plus not to mention I can make NES looking games, which is cool. Sure I could suck it up and learn another programming language, but with QB I can say I am making good use of something that is "out of date". I get enjoyment out of that for some reason...

Posted on: August 2, 2004
 
Heliostrapolis: Because I can!
I started learning programming in a stupid language called "turing". while i was learning that i discoverd an old qbasic textbook in the library andthe qbasic program on my computer. I started messing around with it, first i just used it to draw, than to make horrible animations ( using the for statement), then on to actual programs and games. I learned qbasic and can program in it. I haven't bothered with any other language because qbasic will do everything i need.

Homepage: http://www.angelfire.com/games5/heliostrapolis
Posted on: July 29, 2004
 
lkt153: Nostalgy? Perhaps the Challenge?
Well I believe that for most of us that first programmed in QB it is somewhat nostalgic (although I don't tihnk I'm old enough to be allowed to use that term... heh), other than that I believe it's great for the challenge in it, I could make a game in MingW (C++ compiler for those unfamiliar with it) using Allegro in a few weeks that ran much faster, had almost no memory limitations, and would have all sorts of eye candy. While writing in Qb would lead me to days perhaps weeks of extra coding in assembly, definately a few more days of debugging and a LOT of memory limitations and memory swaps, but then again, what's the fun in doing something easy? The challenge is something that I see most QB programmers prize, and so do I, as long as I'm not trying to sell my software it's much more fun and simpler than most other languages and it provoques me to do better than the already existant... Perhaps mine is not the best philosophy, considering the last project in QB I finished was about 2 or 3 years ago, but it's a way to see things... to learn how to break through your own constraints, that's the thing...

Homepage: http://www.lkt153.cjb.net
Posted on: July 27, 2004
 
Levi: My reason and excuse...
For me it's more loyalty than anything. I first found out about programming using basic. I had a friend who found an old book in the library and matched it up to a program he found on his computer. We enjoyed setting up the program examples, though we didn't understand any of it, we loved playing the games and trying to change things. I later found the internet and gained tutorials and learned its usage. I later went on to create many meaningless programs.

I have since moved onto other languages: C++, VB, RapidQ, LibertyB, Javascript, VBScript, ASP, PHP, and numerous scripting languages for different programs. I of course remained close to Basic offsprings. But something each of these programs has in common with QBasic is programming techniques and general ideas. I can now take any advanced program in any of these languages and create in QBasic a far less superior and capable clone program that imitates certain features and helps me to gain perspective on how to fix them. I use QBasic to help me find errors in my code for other languages and fix them. It's like in Chess when your queen is down, look to your pawn for salvation. QBasic and morph it's ideas and capablities to almost any other language and so it is my pawn, and I use it often.

Homepage: http://i.domaindlx.com/LevisFiction/index.htm
Posted on: July 25, 2004
 
AJones: Why I still program in QB
I'm ashamed to say that after twenty years of programming in Basica, GWBasic, and QuickBasic, I don't know another programming language. I still use QB for managing runs, triathlons, relays, etc. It still serves me perfectly well except for Windows XP. I'm having difficulty printing my output, and it's impossible to communicate through the RS232 port (now a USB). I'm seriously thinking about rewriting everything in VB, but I haven't gotten very far in my efforts to learn enough about VB to begin the process.

Homepage: http://www.marathonpanama.com
Posted on: July 23, 2004
 
ComputerGhost: Answer to: "Why do you *still* program in QB?"
Two main reasons:
1. It's easy to make stuff quickly using QB. Nowadays I use C mostly, but QB comes in handy a lot. I might be working on a game and need some files for the game to use. I don't want to use C to do that when I can use QB and get it done quicker!

2. Just like Pete said on his page, there are a lot of people around that like QB. It's a good way to meet people.

Homepage: http://ComputerGhost.webhop.net
Posted on: July 23, 2004
 
Pete: For me, it's all about the community...
I've chosen QB over other languages for one simple reason: the people. The QB Online Community (or the Qmunity, if you will) is made up of some of the nicest, funniest, most talented, most creative and most helpful people I've ever met. Over the years, I've made dozens of friends through a mutual interest in QBasic programming. When I have learned other languages, from TI Calculator BASIC to PHP, I've not found another group of programmers that is so accepting and community driven as the QB programmers. As far as I can tell, there is no other programming language in the world that has as wide and active an online community as QBasic does. Or if there is, I certainly haven't found it.

I could easily make a game or run a website in C or VBasic, but frankly, what's the point? Sure, I might end up with a game with more bells and whistles, or a website with more impressive content...but there wouldn't be the same awesome group of people to enjoy it. And that's really what drove me to make this site and to continue programming in QB--I enjoyed contributing to the QB community.

Homepage: http://www.petesqbsite.com
Posted on: June 28, 2004
 

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