qbasic
====== QBasic ======
{{tag>qbasic}}

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== Keywords ==
**{{backlinks>.#keywords}}**
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This page is only a stub.
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The last Microsoft development environment of the [[..:msqb|QuickBASIC]] family, released in 1991 bundled with MS-DOS 5.0, QBasic was an interpreter-only version intended to replace [[..gwbasic|GW-BASIC]]. It inherited from QB, however, its simplified but still great text-mode IDE with a debugger and extensive online documentation through its //Help// menu.

As described, QBasic existed until Windows 95, when the interpreter, the editor and the help system were separated, and the interpreter was no longer bundled with the system from Windows 2000 onwards.

As of January 2024, however, QBasic was still mentioned as a useful and simple platform for introduction to programming, and used with emulators such as DOSBox in multiple platforms.

Most of the language features of QuickBASIC were implemented in QBasic — the Keywords box aside shows exactly the subset they had in common. Some limits and functionalities applied, though.    

===== Where it is/was used =====
/* TO DO: Machines and emulators which ran this BASIC. */
  * IBM-PCs with MS-DOS 5, MS-DOS 6 and Windows up to version 2000
  * DOS emulators

===== Noteworthy characteristics =====
/* TO DO: a list or prose text about this BASIC's features, quirks, Easter eggs, tricks, singularities... */

  * An easter egg in QBasic can be found by pressing all the Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys together: it shows a colorful list of 13 names of its developers.

===== Environment and usage =====

/* TO DO: notes about the REPL or IDE used, keyboard shortcuts and commands, command-line options for compiling and linking, environment variables which might be set... */


===== Extensions =====
/* TO DO: Famous libraries tools and extension packages made for this BASIC */


===== Curiosities =====
/* TO DO: Historical notes, anecdotes, what people said about it */
QBasic's text-mode IDE, a simplified version of the QuickBASIC one, was also the system text editor in MS-DOS 5 and 6. The executable EDIT.COM simply started QBasic in "edit mode" only. The BASIC interpreter was stripped out of it from Windows 95 onwards.

===== Related to... =====
/*   * **[[basicTagName|basicTitle]]** - TO DO: a brief description of the relation they have with this one */


==== Influenced by ====
/*  * **[[basicTagName|basicTitle]]** - TO DO: which are the noticeable or assumed influences */


==== Influence for ====
/*  * **[[basicTagName|basicTitle]]*** - TO DO: which are the noticeable or assumed influences */


===== Versions and successors =====
/*
  No much need of prose here, just links. Notice the different patterns to create the links:
    * **[[basics:msqb:versionTagName|versionTitle]]** - for versions (created under this page)
    * **[[successorTagName|successorTitle]]** - for a successor (created as sibling of this page)
*/



===== References =====
/*
  If the ((citation)) syntax was used elsewhere, they will be listed below this section.
  You can prepend this with a list of books, magazines and web pages with information
  used in this page
*/

  * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QBasic , last checked 2024-01-04
  * https://eeggs.com/items/817.html , last checked 2024-01-04

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