Another excellent source for learning more about Just BASIC is the Just BASIC forum located at http://justbasic.conforums.com/ as demonstrated in Figure B.2.

Figure B.2. The Just BASIC forum.

At the Just BASIC forum you will be able to access different discussion forums and view thousands of topics and postings made by other Just BASIC programmers. You can also post your own questions and answers if you want. There are forums specifically dedicated to novice programmers, games and graphics development, tip sharing, and much more.

Another resource that you may want to investigate is http://justbasic.wikispaces.com, as shown in Figure B.3. As of the writing of this book, this resource was still relatively new. It was created to provide Just BASIC programmers with a place to congregate and share information and ideas. To participate, you must join. Joining is free.

Figure B.3. The Just BASIC wiki site.

Another good source for information on Just BASIC is provided at http://www.jbasicnews.com, as shown in Figure B.4.

Figure B.4. The Just BASIC newsletter.

Although it is not being published anymore, this website still provides free access to a collection of online newsletters dating back to July 2005. In addition to browsing through individual newsletters, the site lets you browse all of the topics covered using either a Contents or an Index view, making it easy to find specific topics.

Another excellent source of Just BASIC information can be found on the Just BASIC files archive located at http://jbusers.com/phpBB/index.php, as shown in Figure B.5. Here you will get access to forum discussions regarding a host of topics, including game development, utilities, database access, and Internet application development.

Figure B.5. The Just BASIC files archive.

As of the writing of this book, this site had over 700 discussion postings with close to 300 registered members. If you run into a problem with a Just BASIC application that you cannot figure out on your own, you might want to join this site and post your question to see if other programmers have already run into the same problem and figured out a way to fix it.

Another forum that you should check out is the JustLiberty forum located at http://justliberty.conforums.com, as shown in Figure B.6. This forum provides you with another place to go to learn more about both Just BASIC and Liberty BASIC as well as to post questions and get help and feedback from fellow programmers.

Figure B.6. The JustLiberty forum.

Liberty BASIC Workshop is an integrated development environment that is distributed as shareware, allowing to you download and try it before purchasing it. You can download a copy of it from http://alycesrestaurant.com/workshop.htm. Its features include a GUI builder that is designed to assist you in the development of Liberty BASIC window interfaces, as demonstrated in Figure B.8.

Figure B.8. Liberty BASIC ToolBox is a third-party integrated development environment for Liberty BASIC.

Liberty BASIC ToolBox is a graphical user interface forms designer whose purpose is to simplify and speed up the process of developing window interfaces for Liberty BASIC applications. Liberty BASIC ToolBox is distributed as freeware. It provides programmers with a Visual Basic-styled development environment, as demonstrated in Figure B.9.

Figure B.9. Liberty BASIC Quick Visual Designer is a third-party GUI designer designed to speed up Liberty BASIC GUI development.

To download a free copy of Liberty BASIC ToolBox, visit http://jstmm.netfirms.com.

REALbasic is a cross-platform software development language that allows programmers to develop software that can be run on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It comes with its own built-in database, REAL SQL Database, thus facilitating the development of small database applications. It is well-suited to the development of business, game, and Internet applications. You can download a trial version of REALbasic at http://www.realbasic.com, shown in Figure B.10.

Figure B.10. REALbasic supports cross-platform application development on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

REALbasic features a RAD integrated development environment, which significantly reduces the amount time and effort required to build graphical user interfaces.

For programmers whose customers are Microsoft Windows users, Microsoft Visual Basic is the dominant BASIC programming language. Visual Basic is a RAD application development tool that is closely integrated with the Microsoft .NET framework, upon which it depends in order to run and access system and network resources. As far as BASIC programming languages go, Visual Basic is as complicated as it gets. As a result, it takes longer to learn and master than other BASIC programming languages. To help address this issue, Microsoft has developed a scaled-down version of Visual Basic called Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition, which is a little easier to learn.

You can download a free copy of Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/, as shown in Figure B.11.

Figure B.11. Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition is a free version of Visual Basic designed to attract beginner programmers.

Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition is specifically designed to support Windows desktop development. Other versions of Visual Basic include support for the development of Internet applications as well as support for the development of applications for small appliances, such as PDAs and cell phones.

Another BASIC programming language that you might want to check out is NS BASIC. NS BASIC provides a full-feature IDE and it comes in a number of different versions that together support the development of applications for the Windows desktop and Windows CE as well as Palm and Newton hand-held devices. You can learn more about NS BASIC by visiting http://www.nsbasic.com, as shown in Figure B.12.

Figure B.12. NS Basic supports Windows desktop application development as well as application development on Windows CE, Palm, and Newton devices.

In addition to Just BASIC, Liberty BASIC, REALbasic, Visual Basic, and NS Basic, there are dozens of other programming languages that are based on BASIC. While it is well beyond the scope of this book to attempt to cover each of these BASIC dialects, I’d be remiss if I did not point out a few of these languages. Table B.1 provides a list of seven additional BASIC programming languages and provides the addresses of the languages’ websites. Also included in Table B.1 is a listing of the operating systems that each of these BASIC programming languages supports.

Of course, there is nothing that says you have to apply your newly developed programming skills to BASIC programming. The programming techniques and principles that you learned in this book can be broadly applied to any programming language, including such languages as:

Each of these programming languages is separate and distinct and has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. To learn more about these and other programming languages, I suggest you spend a little time searching the Internet.

Visual Basic for Applications is a scripting language that is integrated into some Windows applications, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. It provides users and programmers with the ability to automate certain aspects of the application in order to enhance it in some manner. This allows programmers to customize the application in order to solve a specific problem, thus providing an effective alternative to using a programming language such as REALbasic to create an equivalent custom application from scratch.

If, for example, you already have Microsoft Excel or Access installed on your computer, then you already have VBA installed and ready to use. To learn more about how to work with VBA, check out http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/technology/vba/default.aspx, as shown in Figure B.13.

Figure B.13. Visual Basic for Applications is integrated into numerous Windows applications.

Another popular scripting language that is based on BASIC is Microsoft VBScript. VBScript runs in many different environments, facilitating the development of scripts that automate desktop, network, and browser-based tasks. You can learn more about VBScript and the environments that support it by visiting the Microsoft Script Center located at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/default.mspx, as shown in Figure B.14.

Figure B.14. VBScript supports the development of desktop and web-based scripts.

Hint

Although VBScript is the most well known scripting language that is based on BASIC, there are plenty of other alternatives. Other scripting languages thatyou might want to look into include RBScript, which is a scripting language based on REALbasic (www.realbasic.com), and ScriptBasic (www.scriptbasic.com), which runs on Windows and Linux operating systems.