Microsoft Small Basic Online

[ScriptBasic]

Small Basic Home Page

Also hitting public preview is an online version of Microsoft’s spare-time project, Small Basic. The language, aimed at inflicting BASIC on students, celebrates its 10th birthday in October and features a limited set of functions, while being surprisingly fun to tinker with.

Microsoft plans to eventually shift the entire project to Open Source, but in the meantime the online version provides a way into the wonderful world of BASIC for users unable to install the current desktop version of the tool.

Small Basic has built in online dictionary syntax as part of the language.

[B+]

Small Basic has built in online dictionary syntax as part of the language.

And you need it for all this typing:

Code: [Select]

'Update options display
Sub options
  GraphicsWindow.PenColor = "Black"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawLine(gw,0,gw,gh)
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "LightBlue"
  GraphicsWindow.FillRectangle(gw+10,10,190,gh-20)
  For i = 0 To 5
    GraphicsWindow.DrawLine(gw+10,100*i+10,gw+190,100*i+10)
  EndFor
  GraphicsWindow.DrawLine(gw+100,10,gw+100,510)

  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Black"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,20,70,"Gravity")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,40,70,grav)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,120,70,"Friction")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,140,70,fric)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,220,70,"Follow")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,240,70,follow)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,320,70,"Size")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,340,70,radius)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,420,70,"Count")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,440,70,nball)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,520,170,"Click coloured options or a ball to stop it")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Red"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,580,50,"RESET")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,580,50,"QUIT")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,60,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,160,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,260,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,360,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,460,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Blue"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,80,70,"Less")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,180,70,"Less")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,280,70,"Less")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,380,70,"Less")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+15,480,70,"Less")

  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Black"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,20,70,"Speed")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,40,70,dt)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,120,70,"Attraction")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,140,70,attract)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,220,70,"Elastic")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,240,70,elastic)
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,320,70,"Colour")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Red"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,60,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,160,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,260,70,"More")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Blue"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,80,70,"Less")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,180,70,"Less")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,280,70,"Less")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Red"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,340,70,"Red")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Blue"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,360,70,"Blue")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Yellow"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,380,70,"Yellow")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Black"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,420,70,"Shape")
  GraphicsWindow.BrushColor = "Red"
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,440,70,"Circle")
  GraphicsWindow.DrawBoundText(gw+115,460,70,"Square")
EndSub
Like I've said, "Nothing Small about this version."

[ScriptBasic]

I'm happy Microsoft still likes BASIC as a beginners and documenting language to describe more complex languages they offer.

[Tomaaz]

I'm happy Microsoft still likes BASIC as a beginners and documenting language to describe more complex languages they offer.

MS Small Basic is not a BASIC dialect (neither is Visual Basic.NET*). It may have a word "basic" in its name, but the object-oriented-like syntax has nothing to do with BASIC. We've had this discussion before. I really don't get it why the name of the language is so important to you.

* Is this looking like BASIC to you?

Code: [Select]

Public Class Form1

    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        MsgBox("Hello world", MsgBoxStyle.Information, "Hello world!") ' Show a message that says "Hello world!".
    End Sub
End Class

If it does then you can call almost everything "BASIC" (well, Brainfuck and Lisp may be the very few exceptions),

[ScriptBasic]

Actually most languages today can tie their roots back to BASIC and its simplistic flow.

[Tomaaz]

But they are not BASICs anymore. Humans and apes have common ancestor, but we can clearly see a difference between human and gorilla or chimpanzee.

[Aurel]

I know one too
python is ugly cousin of BASIC --cose is full of UDT crap

[Rick3137]

Small Basic Home Page

Also hitting public preview is an online version of Microsoft’s spare-time project, Small Basic. The language, aimed at inflicting BASIC on students, celebrates its 10th birthday in October and features a limited set of functions, while being surprisingly fun to tinker with.

Microsoft plans to eventually shift the entire project to Open Source, but in the meantime the online version provides a way into the wonderful world of BASIC for users unable to install the current desktop version of the tool.

Small Basic has built in online dictionary syntax as part of the language.

  Maybe, if it goes open Source, we will be able to get rid of the big words, and make a real Basic out of it.

[ScriptBasic]

It seems if you want to run online you need to be on Windows using the IE browser with Silverlight installed.

[Tomaaz]

In other words, it's been abandoned.

[Aurel]

abandoned ?
hmm ..i don't think so from what i see on his forum
well i agree that syntax is full of UDT but many of VB6 programs are with UDT too
so nothing new ,,
another story is why people like to use UDT read OOP or vs versa.
for simple programs , exmaples really there is no need to use any sort of oop
but when few or group people work on one big project then is very usefull to work with OOP.
and yes no mather what anyone think MS SB is a BASIC dialect - we like it or not.

[Tomaaz]

for simple programs , exmaples really there is no need to use any sort of oop
but when few or group people work on one big project then is very usefull to work with OOP.

And this is exactly the philosophy behind Python! For small scripts you can use procedural style, but if you need OOP for something bigger,  it's there.

[Tomaaz]

abandoned ?

I meant the online version. IE? Silverlight? Do you really disagree?