QB64 and FreeBasic

[bigriverguy]

Just a curiosity question.  Has there ever been any thought of using the QB64 IDE as a front end to Free Basic? 

[SpriggsySpriggs]

I have a feeling that there would be some opposition to this idea.

[FellippeHeitor]

Being an open source project, all could be done with it. The thing is that our IDE is so integrated with our compiler that it'd take a good amount of work to separate it.

[FellippeHeitor]

Welcome aboard, @bigriverguy

[bigriverguy]

I realize that there are probably a lot of reasons why the project is constructed the way it is.  It just popped into my head that there would be a lot less translation to do going from QB64 to Freebasic rather than to C.

I am not suggesting that it should be done, just that it was a curiosity question for me, so I thought I would ask it.

[Pete]

ERROR 70: Permission Denied.

[Fifi]

Hi bigriverguy,

I realize that there are probably a lot of reasons why the project is constructed the way it is.  It just popped into my head that there would be a lot less translation to do going from QB64 to Freebasic rather than to C.

I am not suggesting that it should be done, just that it was a curiosity question for me, so I thought I would ask it.

You're wrong on 1 point:
"there are probably a lot of reasons why the project is constructed the way it is".

Without any intention to hurt anyone and especially Galleon, to my point of view, the sole and unique reason of this construction is that at the beginning, this project was made by only one person without any real plan where to go. The integration of the editor into the compiler (and vice versa) plus the lack of comment is the cruel evidence of the lack of an initial real design. Yes it works, but I've never ever seen such a spaghetti code and I really admire the few guys who maintain it.

You're right on 1 point:
Yes, it should be done.

Both in term of maintenance and evolution, it would be for the real benefit of both the compiler and the IDE to have two different and separated parts: one, the compiler (the language) and two, the IDE.

Further, this would allow to use other IDEs (i.e. CodeBlocks, Eclipse, etc) and/or to develop a graphical brand new one "a la visual studio" including the real time debugger vWATCH64 from Fellippe.

Now, on the compiler part, this would allow to have a very smaller executable that could even be integrated into the Gnu compiler collection while being usable from any terminal session such as GCC or G++.

So I know it's a big job to do (due to the way the code is now), but for the future and the safety of this language (and especially the compiler), I don't see any other route to drive.

This would also help and motivate other new devs to focus exclusively on the development of the language itself, even by adding a new "object" layer (as did PHP years ago when moving from version 4 to 5).

Just my two cents.

[TempodiBasic]

@bigriverguy
Hi and welcome into QB64 forum

QB64 translated into FreeBasic..... Why don't use directly FreeBasic? ( it seems that the rate of backward compatibility is bigger for QB64 than for FreeBasic so... you can write more QB/Qasic code that will be compiled after a translation into C/C++ for GNU compiler.)  Or if your goal is to use a free language and not just to link the Qbasic to the modern time powering it  by new _Keywords, you can choose modern languages like Python, Javascript, Java more than C++...

the chain of BASIC starts from Redmont and it went on through BASIC of different machines until GWBASICA and just QB that has been the radix of another revolution in the word of programming... the storm VB and the BASIC into Office suite (not only Microsoft Office, see OpenOffice suite and other products).

BASIC is a point of view into the approach to the software development.

 

@Fifi
fine to meet you again. Great job with the tools for installation of QB64 and tools (vWatch, Inform).
about the QB64 (before was QB32) with the fusion of QB64 IDE and QB64 compiler, behind the style of coding (I think more that it has been choosen to stress the first way of coding in BASIC when there was no SUB/FUNCTION except GOSUB and DEF FNfunction )  I think that the author (Galleon) in a first time had the idea to make a compiler and an oldDosStyle IDE to open the world of Windows to the QBcode. After some times , maybe, he changed the goal after feedbacks and interactions with QB  lovers. So it has been done those improvements to the QB language also to limit the absence of support of some crucial old Keywords. Another step has been realized when QB64 leaves the SDL library to be near the OpenGL library.
This my idea about QB64 story.

[Kiara87]

@bigriverguy
Hi and welcome into QB64 forum

QB64 translated into FreeBasic..... Why don't use directly FreeBasic? ( it seems that the rate of backward compatibility is bigger for QB64 than for FreeBasic so... you can write more QB/Qasic code that will be compiled after a translation into C/C++ for GNU compiler.)  Or if your goal is to use a free language and not just to link the Qbasic to the modern time powering it  by new _Keywords, you can choose modern languages like Python, Javascript, Java more than C++...

the chain of BASIC starts from Redmont and it went on through BASIC of different machines until GWBASICA and just QB that has been the radix of another revolution in the word of programming... the storm VB and the BASIC into Office suite (not only Microsoft Office, see OpenOffice suite and other products).

BASIC is a point of view into the approach to the software development.

 

@Fifi
fine to meet you again. Great job with the tools for installation of QB64 and tools (vWatch, Inform).
about the QB64 (before was QB32) with the fusion of QB64 IDE and QB64 compiler, behind the style of coding (I think more that it has been choosen to stress the first way of coding in BASIC when there was no SUB/FUNCTION except GOSUB and DEF FNfunction )  I think that the author (Galleon) in a first time had the idea to make a compiler and an oldDosStyle IDE to open the world of Windows to the QBcode. After some times , maybe, he changed the goal after feedbacks and interactions with QB  lovers. So it has been done those improvements to the QB language also to limit the absence of support of some crucial old Keywords. Another step has been realized when QB64 leaves the SDL library to be near the OpenGL library.
This my idea about QB64 story.

Si in effetti nel GW-BASIC  era priva della programmazione strutturata era oblicatorio far salti con il GOTO
Per la mancanza delle procedure e funziona quelle elencate da te (sub,end sub   e  funziona, end function ) che in GWBASIC come sottoprogramma o meglio dire subrutine usavano il GOSUB visto che non esisteva ancora sub end sub e DEF fn sostituiva la funzione di adesso che noi usiamo  function end function
e altre particolarità  che avevano i numeri di riga oblicatorio da mettere per i salti che si usava spesso i GOTO
@TempodiBasic 
Credo sia così poi ovviamente te hai più esperienza di me correggimi se sbaglio
Saluti

[wiggins]

Just a curiosity question.  Has there ever been any thought of using the QB64 IDE as a front end to Free Basic?

I'm happy that Galleon started this project and advanced the football as far as he did, before changing careers.  QB64 generates reliable EXE files and has good execution speed. I believe that the main premise behind QB64 was to generate C code from QB45 source code and for Galleon to learn C programming. I'm also very grateful for the people who continue to maintain the Qb64 code.  I'm not aware of another system that compiles QB45 source into x32/x64 EXE files. 

There might be a QB64 road map, but I am not aware of one.  I'd like to see it run on the Apple's new M1 ARM processor since MACs are currently supported.

[Fifi]

Hi TempodiBasic,

Thanx for your note. And YES, I'm back (with my updated multilingual installation script for Linux http://www.as2.com).

@Fifi
fine to meet you again. Great job with the tools for installation of QB64 and tools (vWatch, Inform).
about the QB64 (before was QB32) with the fusion of QB64 IDE and QB64 compiler, behind the style of coding (I think more that it has been choosen to stress the first way of coding in BASIC when there was no SUB/FUNCTION except GOSUB and DEF FNfunction )  I think that the author (Galleon) in a first time had the idea to make a compiler and an oldDosStyle IDE to open the world of Windows to the QBcode. After some times , maybe, he changed the goal after feedbacks and interactions with QB  lovers. So it has been done those improvements to the QB language also to limit the absence of support of some crucial old Keywords. Another step has been realized when QB64 leaves the SDL library to be near the OpenGL library.
This my idea about QB64 story.

I agree with your story about the QB64 development path by Galleon, but in any event, I think that the mixture of the language and the IDE is a very bad idea, whatever the reason and especially if its original goal was first to create only a compiler!

So, I don't know if the current developer team plans in the future to "desintegrate" the code in order to separate the compiler from the IDE, but it's my point of view: that for the safety of the evolution of the language itself (i.e. the compiler), this is mandatory.

I bet that's a big job to do, but it must be done for exemple to add a new programming layer such as an object approach.

Further, this would allow to use other IDEs (i.e. Eclipse) and even motivate other new developers to create a new graphical IDE "a la Visual Basic" which could also integrate the Fellippe Heitor's  WATCH debugger.

And this would definitely place QB64 as a real competitor Vs a lot of other compilers while offering the ease of the Basic language.

Just my two cents.

Cheers.
Fifi

[FellippeHeitor]

The IDE depends on the compiler. The compiler doesn't depend on the IDE. Any IDE can be used with QB64, provided it has settings for command line compilation, which QB64 supports since forever.

[Bert22306]

Salut, Fifi,

As Fellippe said, you can already use other IDEs, with QB64. A good one is Dav's IDE:

http://qbasicnews.com/dav/qb64.php

Look at the bottom of the page.

I've tried it, easy to install, and it works great. The only problem is, it's not as fully up to date, debugged, etc., as Fellippe's latest updates have been.

[williammendesg]

Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forum, I've been a hobbyist programmer for a few years and I know a little about some programming languages. Lately I was programming in FreeBasic, and I was really enjoying it, it is an excellent programming language, however after meeting QB64 my eyes shone. I was impressed and completely in love with the project. Everything in the QB64 is beautiful! From the IDE's retro look to the project's website, it's wonderful. It is fantastic to program in QB as in the past, to be able to hear the beep sounds and everything and use the IDE with the same visual. Sorry for the sugary words but this is how I feel with QB64. I want to congratulate those involved in the development of language and IDE. I want to thank you for enabling us to write QB programs for modern systems today. And I ask you to stay in the same direction and with the same enthusiasm. The QB64 was a great gift for me. Thank you very much!

[bplus]

Welcome @williammendesg

Yes, I think the IDE is a real charmer :)