the unattainable mission of documenting every BASIC yet implemented https://everybasic.info/ 2026-04-29T05:42:23+00:00 https://everybasic.info/ https://everybasic.info/lib/exe/fetch.php/wiki/dokuwiki.svg text/html 2023-04-01T15:19:19+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/a2int?rev=1680362359&do=diff a2int Apple II INTEGER BASIC a2int Keywords In all-caps letters like some purists require, this was the original 1976 BASIC for the Apple I and Apple II computers, written by Stephen Wozniak himself. This name, however, only became used later, to differentiate it from the newer text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/altair?rev=1679115100&do=diff altair Altair BASIC altair Keywords The famous first product of a certain Micro-Soft, for the allegedly first personal computer in the market, would set the basis of what would soon become a de facto standard for the BASIC language. There were actually three MS-BASICs for the Altair computer. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/applesoft?rev=1679115100&do=diff applesoft: Applesoft BASIC applesoft Keywords The customized Microsoft BASIC for the Apple II, first sold in cassette tape before improved and incorporated into the ROM of the 1978 Apple II+, displacing Stephen Wozniak's original INTEGER BASIC. Apple engineers adapted the original BASIC-65 port of Microsoft BASIC-80 in order to incorporate most keywords already in use in INTEGER BASIC. Though slower, Applesoft brought floating-point maths support to the Apple II and is generally describ… text/html 2024-01-08T01:23:42+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/atom?rev=1704677022&do=diff atom Acorn Atom BASIC atom Keywords British Acorn Computers' first microcomputer BASIC was a slightly improved version of its "Acorn System BASIC", and both were a, well, very peculiar dialect of the language. Where it is/was used * Acorn Atom (UK, 1980) text/html 2024-01-07T21:50:14+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/bbc?rev=1704664214&do=diff bbc BBC BASIC bbc Keywords The BBC BASIC is said by many to be the most advanced BASIC of the 8-bit era, and such a bold statement has plenty of arguments for it. Widespread availability was not one of them, though. This advanced BASIC was bundled with the BBC Micro, part of the government-funded text/html 2023-06-18T03:15:51+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/boot?rev=1687058151&do=diff boot bootBASIC boot A 512-byte integer BASIC interpreter is surely a feat by Oscar Toledo, also known as nanochess on GitHub, where bootBASIC's source code resides. As of June 2023, this project from 2019 seemed to be alive, in spite of its Assembly code being apparently untouched for 3 years already. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/bwbasic?rev=1679115100&do=diff bwbasic Bywater BASIC bwbasic Keywords An open source BASIC interpreter written in C whose history started back in 1982 — and a quite interesting one: it was written by a Texan grandmom, Verda Spell, and after her death the source files on a CP/M disk were found in her knitting bag by her grandson, Ted Campbell, a historian who transfered the code to a PC and published it in 1993. text/html 2024-04-03T02:30:23+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/cbm?rev=1712111423&do=diff cbm Commodore BASIC cbm Keywords The BASIC used in the famous 8-bit Commodore machines such as PET, VIC-20, C64, 16, Plus/4 and C128. Originally, it was pretty much the Microsoft port of its BASIC-80 for the 6502 processor, later improved by Commodore developers into a number of versions with some meaningful differences. None of them however was nearly as popular as the rather crude one known as text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/decbasic?rev=1679115100&do=diff decbasic DEC BASIC-PLUS decbasic Keywords One of the oldest and most influential BASIC implementations, developed by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and released in 1970. It is said to be highly influenced by JOSS, a Rand Corporation time-sharing programming language which also influenced other languages such as FOCAL and MUMPS text/html 2024-01-08T02:15:50+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/decimal?rev=1704680150&do=diff decimal Decimal BASIC decimal Keywords This page is only a stub. An open source, 1990s-style IDE and interpreter for Windows, Linux and Mac which strives to implement the ANSI Full BASIC standard. As of January 2024, the project seemed active, with its latest builds released in November 2023. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/freebasic?rev=1679115100&do=diff freebasic FreeBASIC freebasic Keywords One of the (if not the) most stable open-source BASICs in activity as of 2023, FreeBASIC is a large, modern and multi-platform compiler which started mostly influenced by Microsoft QuickBASIC but, as time passed, adopted some influences from C++ to the point it had to work with separate "language modes" — one for QB compatibility and one of its own, which is the one considered for the text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/gambas?rev=1679115100&do=diff gambas Gambas gambas Keywords A very active open-source project as of 2023, whose name is a recursive acronym for "Gambas Almost Means BASIC". It is pretty BASICy though, in spite of some strong Java scents (even though it is written in C++). Gambas is a modern 21st-century BASIC with many features and extensions for all kind of desktop/server applications development. It certainly is not more talked about because it remains a Linux-only platform since it was released. Its website show… text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/gwbasic?rev=1679115100&do=diff gwbasic Microsoft GW-BASIC gwbasic Keywords If it was not the last, GW-BASIC was certainly the most advanced evolution of the original, line-numbered, first-generation Microsoft BASIC-80. Its original source-code has been open by Microsoft and it has at least one modern, open-source implementation for modern operating systems, so it can still be considered an active BASIC which can make old-time programmers "feel at home". text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/hptsb?rev=1679115100&do=diff hptsb HP Time-Shared BASIC hptsb Keywords One of the earliest and most influential deviations from the original Dartmouth BASIC, the Hewlett-Packard Time-Shared BASIC was a cheaper, minicomputer-based and very popular alternative time-sharing system for the late 1960s. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/liberty?rev=1679115100&do=diff liberty Liberty BASIC liberty Keywords A commercial BASIC for Windows with a free trial version, as of 2023, whose website makes you think it was abandoned by the early 2000s, but in fact it remains alive and updated. Has a pretty extensive documentation online. Where it is/was used text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/linenumbered?rev=1679115100&do=diff Numbered Lines BASIC linenumbered This was, we can say, the whole huge first generation of BASIC, from 1964 to early 1990s. Very tipically, such BASICs shared the following characteristics: * Each line of a program was preceded by a successive line number and such lines were executed sequentially text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/minibasicjs?rev=1679115100&do=diff minibasicjs MiniBASIC (Joe Strout's) minibasicjs Keywords Don't let the name and the "js" in the tag name fool you: Joe Strout's MiniBASIC, announced at February 26th, 2023, has no relationship with the previous Malcolm McLean's minibasic project, nor is it a JavaScript implementation. Beware of the differential letters here as well, because, out of pure coincidence, Joe's MiniBASIC runs on his text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/minibasicmm?rev=1679115100&do=diff minibasicmm minibasic (McLean's) minibasicmm Keywords A very simple, open-source BASIC interpreter implemented in ANSI C by Malcolm McLean, published on GitHub since January 2017. In spite of the name and the authors initials, it has nothing to do with Joe Strout's MiniBASIC for the Mini Micro. Malcolm's design goals were also pretty different: console-only, portability, text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/ms80basic?rev=1679115100&do=diff ms80basic Microsoft BASIC-80 ms80basic Keywords After the Altair BASIC in its 8kB version, Microsoft created a more generic and refined version which would be ported to other 8-bit and 16-bit processors and soon would be licensed to form the basis of the most famous BASIC implementations of the decade. The so-called text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/msamiga?rev=1679115100&do=diff msamiga Amiga Microsoft BASIC msamiga Keywords The short-lived Microsoft BASIC for Amiga was one of the first implementations of structured BASIC by Microsoft. It was released shortly after msmac and both were said to be remarkably similar — as much as we can see what msqb was about to become. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/msatari?rev=1679115100&do=diff msatari Microsoft Atari BASIC msatari Keywords This is the famous what-it-was-to-be Microsoft BASIC for the first line of Atari computers by the final 1970s, the one that was too big for an 8kB cartridge. Where it is/was used Noteworthy characteristics text/html 2024-01-04T16:35:08+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/msqb?rev=1704386108&do=diff msqb Microsoft QuickBASIC msqb Keywords Microsoft QuickBASIC was released in August 1985 and, while not the first BASIC which did not require line numbers (not even by Microsoft), it quickly became the practical reference of what was to be the second generation of BASIC. With ideas which were part of the text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/msx?rev=1679115100&do=diff msx: MSX BASIC msx Keywords The MSX platform standard anedoctally takes its name from "MicroSoft eXtended", and was developed by a Japanese subsidiary of Microsoft called ASCII in 1983, and its disk formats can be used with the IBM-PC. It was as Microsoft as an 8-bit computer might get, and the powerful MSX BASIC is arguably the last evolution of the text/html 2023-04-04T03:25:33+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/sinclair?rev=1680578733&do=diff sinclair Sinclair BASIC sinclair Keywords The extremely popular and successful computers from England-based legendary Sinclair Research were shipped with BASICs developed by Nine Tiles Networks Ltd, also an English company. These BASICs were pretty similar among its own evolutions and also to text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/structured?rev=1679115100&do=diff Structured BASICs structured This is not an implementation or a specification of the language, but a programming model which marked a supposedly second generation of BASIC. Under growing influence of ALGOL 68, Pascal and Computer Science developments, block-based BASIC without numbered lines were conceived by the end of the 1960 decade and reached the "home market" by mid-1980s. Structured programming allowed for larger applications and better code maintenance. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/ti994?rev=1679115100&do=diff ti994 TI BASIC ti994 Keywords The BASIC developed by Texas Instruments for their pioneer 16-bit home computers 99/4 (1979) and 99/4A (1981). The user manual of this last machine was the guide for its implemented keywords listed here. The machines were plagued by hardware decisions, but TI BASIC was a very complete implementation of the language with some exclusive and interesting features. text/html 2023-06-18T03:18:56+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/trs80?rev=1687058336&do=diff trs80: TRS-80 trs80 Keywords Radio Shack's legendary TRS-80 brand was kind of abused in very different computer lines, but here we refer to the BASICs used in the very popular line of Z80-based machines Model I, Model III and a handful of compatible clones. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/trscolor?rev=1679115100&do=diff trscolor: Color BASIC trscolor Keywords Mostly known by the Tandy/Radio Shack "CoCo" line of computers, this was a family of BASICs also developed by Microsoft but with some differences to the TRS-80 Level I and Level II BASICs. It equipped a number of contemporary machines with the Motorola 6809 and derived processors with a number of variations. text/html 2023-03-18T04:51:40+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/truebasic?rev=1679115100&do=diff truebasic TrueBASIC truebasic Keywords A legitimate, direct descendent of the original Dartmouth BASIC, also created by Kemeny and Kurtz in 1984, should become a cultuated reference. But reality was quite opposite. TrueBASIC has never been so popular as it was criticized. Anyways, as of 2023 it remains text/html 2024-01-04T15:15:43+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/twin?rev=1704381343&do=diff twin twinBASIC twin Keywords This page is just a stub. A "freemium" BASIC for Windows whose main goal is to achieve "100% backwards compatibility" with Microsoft Visual Basic 6, according to its website — but with a lot of new features it is not simply a clone, but a branch of BASIC on its own. text/html 2023-04-01T15:24:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/ugbasic?rev=1680362677&do=diff ugbasic ugBASIC ugbasic Keywords ugBASIC is a modern, open-source, active (as of March 2023) BASIC cross-compiler able to generate machine code for multiple computers built around the Motorola 6809, Zilog Z80 and MOS 6502 8-bit processors which were popular both in the USA and European markets in the 1980s and 1990s. By March 2023, the following machines were listed as supported targets, along with their mnemonics used with the compilers: text/html 2023-11-08T00:39:33+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://everybasic.info/doku.php/basics/vbdos?rev=1699403973&do=diff vbdos MS Visual Basic for DOS vbdos Keywords The final and arguably the most advanced text-mode BASIC developed by Microsoft, Visual Basic for DOS remains far from being as popular and remembered as its siblings QuickBASIC and the Windows-based versions of Visual Basic. Superficially and out of context, one may surely wonder why.