The Unique Features of the Small Basic Language

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This blog post originates with the question in the  Small Basic FAQ . We also wanted to give the community a chance to answer this question in depth in the TechNet Wiki article.  

What are the unique features of the Small Basic language?

  • Imperative
    Just like the early variants of BASIC, Small Basic is imperative and doesn't use or expose beginners to concepts like scopes, types, object orientation, and more.
     
  • Size
    The Small Basic language consists of just 14 keywords. 
     
  • Ease of Use
    The language only uses text operators (AND, OR); not symbol operators like { } or & and |  
     
  • Easy to Share 
    Share programs easily with the "Publish" and "Import" buttons, which share programs to and from the Small Basic program share server (smallbasic.com). Example.
     
  • Type System
    There actually isn't one. You can create string and numeric constants and assign them to variables. Operations performed on these variables will be interpreted according to the content.
     
  • Variables
    All variables are global and are always initialized. They can be used before they're assigned.
     
  • Events
    You can create a sub-routine and assign it to an event. This will wire the it up to an the event.
     
  • Libraries
    The libraries provide static "Objects" that group operations, properties and events. New libraries can be created using other .Net Languages and added to the Small Basic runtime.
     
  • Graduate to Visual Basic
    By clicking the "Graduate" button, you can move your program into Visual Basic and continue to learn programming, building the skills of a professional developer!
  • Color
    Each type of code is assigned its own color, built right in the language's IDE. See Small Basic: IDE Colors.
     

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   - Tall Basic Ed