FreeBASIC is a free/open source BASIC compiler for Windows DOS and Linux
14 comments
·May 17, 2025orionblastar
vunderba
It really isn't - from the docs themselves:
FreeBASIC gives you the FreeBASIC compiler program (fbc or fbc.exe),
plus the tools and libraries used by it. fbc is a command line program
that takes FreeBASIC source code files (*.bas) and compiles them into
executables. In the combined standalone packages for windows, the main
executable is named fbc32.exe (for 32-bit) and fbc64.exe (for 64-bit)
bencollver
Wasn't QBasic the interpreter as opposed to QuickBasic the compiler?
DCKP
All this brings back fond memories of my first programming foray, an ASCII game in QBASIC from Mars and Back: Computer Programming Handbook by Andrew J. Read. So much fun, so much frustration.
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vunderba
It's been a long time, but my impression was that QuickBASIC had an interpreter and the ability to compile. Then later on, Microsoft bundled a more limited version called QBasic with later versions of MS DOS which lacked the compiler.
But all of them (QBasic, QuickBASIC, Microsoft PDS, and even Visual Basic for DOS which almost nobody remembers sadly) had the editor, interpretative execution, and built-in help.
analog31
This is what I recall too. QuickBasic was perhaps BASIC's answer to Turbo Pascal, a relatively lightweight but usable text based IDE. I knew some happy users.
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westurner
> The magic of QuickBasic was that it was an editor, interpreter, and help system all rolled up into a single EXE file. Punch F5 and watch your BAS file execute line-by-line.
That's still how vscode works; F5 to debug and Ctrl-[Shift]-P like CtrlP.vim: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/debugtest/debugging
FWICS,
The sorucoder.freebasic vscode extension has syntax highlighting: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=sorucode...
There's also an QB64Official/vscode extension that has syntax highlighting and keyboard shortcuts: https://github.com/QB64Official/vscode
re: how qb64 and C-edit are like EDIT.COM, and GORILLA.BAS: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41410427
vunderba
I tried QB64 a couple years ago, but IIRC it's still compiled as opposed to interpretative, e.g. you can't Ctrl-Break and drop into the current executing line of BASIC code unless they've radically changed how it works.
90s_dev
Rather, QB was the pico8 of the 1990s. Convenient, self-contained, mysterious, quasi-powerful, in-app help menu for the entire language and API, and a few built-in demo games.
WalterGR
> FreeBASIC is like Microsoft's QuickBASIC.
Except that it doesn't emulate Microsoft's QuickBASIC, or ... ?
banana_giraffe
It does support "-lang qb" which is designed to specifically limit FreeBASIC to a QuickBASIC compatible dialect.
This one emulates GW-BASIC as PC-BASIC so old BASIC programs for the IBM PC DOS systems can run on modern systems: https://robhagemans.github.io/pcbasic/
FreeBASIC is like Microsoft's QuickBASIC.
More BASIC Languages: https://www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/basic.shtml