Learning how to program is an exciting project but one that can be hard to
get into. Even the free
Express
Editions of the Visual Studio family are somewhat complicated.
Small Basic is different. It has been created to be easy to learn, and the
programming interface is clean yet helpful with code completion offerings.
As the name suggests, Small Basic is an attempt to recreate the days when Dos
ran on computers such as the ZX Spectrum. It was easy to learn and gave results
quickly. Small Basic is limited to just 15 keywords to reduce the amount of
learning required.
We were very impressed with the code editor. It uses the Ribbon interface and
looks very attractive. It also offers code completion; as you start typing a
command, various possibles are suggested along with a quick description. You
might have heard of this under the name Intellisense in more advanced editors
such as Visual Studio. The text of the code is also colour-coded to make it
easier to read.
Just in case the capabilities of Small Basic become limiting, it is possible
to add extra bits of program to it; these are known as libraries.
As a beginners tool, Small Basic is hard to fault. There were one or two gaps
in the getting started guide but anyone considering learning how to program
should give this a go.
This latest version, 0.5, has included built-in support for arrays, variable
misspelling detection, line/column numbers and a Find command.
Version 0.3 added has some new features as well as some bug fixes, including
the Publish button for sharing programs. In previous versions the only way to
share code was to copy and paste it. The Publish button uploads the code to a
server on the web, giving it a six-digit reference number. You can then share
the code by giving just the number. This can be used with a web link, an example
from the features list is
http://smallbasic.com/program/?DCT967.
There is a new Shapes object for the Graphics Window. Other enhancements include
a splash screen and some improvements to performance.
Bug fixes are now in place for some of the date and font problems as well as
behaving better if a temporary folder is blocked.
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