FreeBASIC is a

free and open source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

multiplatform

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs tha ...

and

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...

based on

BASIC BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...

licensed under the

GNU GPL The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general u ...

for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

, protected-mode

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few o ...

(

DOS extender A DOS extender is a computer software program running under DOS that enables software to run in a protected mode environment even though the host operating system is only capable of operating in real mode. DOS extenders were initially developed ...

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

. The Xbox version is no longer maintained. According to its official website, FreeBASIC provides syntax compatibility with

program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Programm ...

s originally written in Microsoft QuickBASIC (QB). Unlike QuickBASIC, however, FreeBASIC is a command line only

, unless users manually install an external

integrated development environment An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools ...

(IDE) of their choice. IDEs specifically made for FreeBASIC include FBide and FbEdit, while more graphical options include WinFBE Suite and VisualFBEditor.

Compiler features

On its backend, FreeBASIC makes use of GNU Binutils in order to produce console and

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, ins ...

applications. FreeBASIC supports the linking and creation of C static and dynamic

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

and has limited support for C++ libraries. As a result, code compiled in FreeBASIC can be reused in most native development environments. C style preprocessing, including multiline macros, conditional compiling and file inclusion, is supported. The preprocessor also has access to symbol information and compiler settings, such as the language dialect.

Syntax

Initially, FreeBASIC emulated Microsoft QuickBASIC syntax as closely as possible. Beyond that, the language has continued its evolution. As a result, FreeBASIC combines several language dialects for maximum level of compatibility with QuickBASIC and full access to modern features. New features include support for concepts such as

object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an ...

s, operator overloading,

function overloading In some programming languages, function overloading or method overloading is the ability to create multiple functions of the same name with different implementations. Calls to an overloaded function will run a specific implementation of that f ...

namespace In computing, a namespace is a set of signs (''names'') that are used to identify and refer to objects of various kinds. A namespace ensures that all of a given set of objects have unique names so that they can be easily identified. Namespaces ...

s and others.

Newline Newline (frequently called line ending, end of line (EOL), next line (NEL) or line break) is a control character or sequence of control characters in character encoding specifications such as ASCII, EBCDIC, Unicode, etc. This character, or ...

characters indicate the termination of programming statements. A programming statement can be distributed on multiple consecutive lines by using the underscore ''line continuation char'' (_), whereas multiple statements may be written on a single line by separating each statement with a colon (:). Block comments, as well as end-of-line remarks are supported. Full line comments are made with an

apostrophe The apostrophe ( or ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one ...

', while blocks of commented code begin with /' and end with '/. FreeBASIC is not case-sensitive.

Graphics library

FreeBASIC provides built-in, QuickBASIC compatible graphics support through FBgfx, which is automatically included into programs that make a call to the SCREEN command. Its backend defaults to

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...

and

DirectX Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct" ...

. This abstraction makes FBgfx graphics code cross-platform compatible. However, FBgfx is not hardware accelerated. Users familiar with external graphics utilities such as OpenGL or the Windows API can use them without interfering with the built-in graphics library.

Language dialects

As FreeBASIC has evolved, changes have been made that required breaking older-styled syntax. In order to continue supporting programs written using the older syntax, FreeBASIC now supports the following dialects: * The default dialect (''-lang fb'' as a command-line argument) supports all new compiler features and disallows archaic syntax. * The FB-lite dialect (''-lang fblite'') permits use of most new, non-object-oriented features in addition to older-style programming. Implicit variables, suffixes, GOSUB / RETURN, numeric labels and other features are allowed in this dialect. * The QB dialect (''-lang qb'') attempts to replicate QuickBASIC behavior and is able to compile many QuickBASIC programs without modification.

Example code

Standard programs, such as the

"Hello, World!" program A "Hello, World!" program is generally a computer program that ignores any input and outputs or displays a message similar to "Hello, World!". A small piece of code in most general-purpose programming languages, this program is used to illustr ...

are done just as they were in QuickBASIC. Print "Hello, World!" sleep:end 'Comment, prevents the program window from closing instantly FreeBASIC adds to this with support for

object-oriented Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of "objects", which can contain data and code. The data is in the form of fields (often known as attributes or ''properties''), and the code is in the form of ...

features such as

methods Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to: *Scien ...

, constructors, dynamic memory allocation,

properties Property is the ownership of land, resources, improvements or other tangible objects, or intellectual property. Property may also refer to: Mathematics * Property (mathematics) Philosophy and science * Property (philosophy), in philosophy an ...

and temporary allocation. Type Vector Private: x As Integer y As Integer Public: Declare Constructor (nX As Integer = 0, nY As Integer = 0) Declare Property getX As Integer Declare Property getY As Integer End Type Constructor Vector (nX As Integer, nY As Integer) x = nX y = nY End Constructor Property Vector.getX As Integer Return x End Property Property Vector.getY As Integer Return y End Property Dim As Vector Ptr player = New Vector() *player = Type(100, 100) Print player->getX Print player->getY Delete player Sleep 'Prevents the program window from closing instantly In both cases, the language is well suited for learning purposes.

References

External links

* * * ;IDEs
WinFBE
- Modern FreeBASIC Editor for Windows
VisualFBEditor
- Cross-platform graphical IDE
fbide.freebasic.net
nbsp; — FBIDE Integrated Development Environment for freeBASIC

nbsp; — FBEdit source code editor for FreeBASIC, version 1.0.7.6c * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freebasic BASIC compilers Free compilers and interpreters Object-oriented programming languages Free computer libraries Self-hosting software Articles with example BASIC code Free software programmed in BASIC DOS software Programming tools for Windows Linux programming tools Programming languages created in 2004 Software using the GPL license Programming languages High-level programming languages 2004 software BASIC programming language family