Comments on: Is Python The New Basic? ("Python For Kids")

By: TechyKids

TechyKids — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 07:31:03 +0000

Thanks for sharing such great tips with the help of which can we teach python for kids. I think in this digital age, where we all dominated by technology, it is important to introduce coding for kids at an early stage. Educating kids about basic of coding will not only develop their critical thinking but also create better opportunities for the future. Due to growth of technology, we have plenty of resources available which makes learning of coding for kids a lot more fun & interactive than before. At TechyKids Canada we have various programs designed for students which teach them about basics of coding to advance python.

By: Transpower

Transpower — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 18:42:11 +0000

In reply to Jason. Compiled True BASIC is the best low-level language, in my opinion. The best high-level language is FileMaker.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 20:48:22 +0000

I think Python could handle that fine. There is a Python library, numpy, specifically for working with large numerical numbers with high precision. Another thing you could possibly investigate is Perl and PHP. These could also do all your processing AND present the data onto a webpage using procedural coding.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 19:56:18 +0000

I only do text processing and numerical processing, mainly cleaning up data sets (for use in a stats program) or automating some writing tasks, that sort of thing.

By: Christopher Winter

Christopher Winter — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 19:45:58 +0000

Somewhat OT, but maybe of interest: Announcing: Time, Clock, and Calendar Programming In C Posted on 2014-09-29 by Eric Raymond

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 19:18:47 +0000

Yep, QB is nice and with QB64 more versatile. Unfortunately, these are limited to Windows. They might work using WINE but likely some bits would fail to work properly in that environment.
Another possibility, if you want to do web programming is ASP scripting with Windows hosting. And finally, yes, for your specific situation (ie: Linux development platform), Python IS more of an option given the limited versions of BASIC available on Linux and extensive support for Python.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:54:48 +0000

Yeah, I could not get FreeBasic to run on my Debian distro … a dependency problem that seems to be a dead end for others as well, at the moment. Gambas is nice (I’ve used it, but not in a long time). To be honest, the best basic for me, given my specific needs, would be qbacis or quick basic … not OO, really like a scripting language. Interpreted vs. compiled probably does not matter much.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:51:26 +0000

Ok then, FreeBASIC will work on Linux and there is also Gambas. Gambas is like Visual Basic for Linux. Gambas should install easily from Synaptic or apt-get, but, FreeBASIC is much trickier. You need the correct dependencies to get it working. I am disappointed with the situation with BASIC on Linux (ie:limted compared to Windows). Also. do note that some of the Windows BASICs can produce executables that run on Linux.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:01:16 +0000

I am not very big on Windows. Mainly Linux here.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 17:18:40 +0000

Hello Greg

Yes BASIC is still the best. Now, the best BASIC?
They all have their pros and cons and it also depends what you are trying to achieve.

Visual BASIC: ($800+ sold as part of Visual Studio .net)
If you want to make 100% professional/commercial Windows applications including web applications. Also, you can make full use of the Microsoft MSDN library which is like a large, huge, massive… help file. Is free to learn but costs money to create and sell.

PowerBASIC: ($200)
Has the fastest 100% machine code to BASIC compiler and according to many articles is the fastest compiled BASIC version for Windows. Can create Windows GUI objects.

RealBASIC: (Now called Xojo) ($300 – $1000+)
Similar to PowerBASIC but costs money and is expensive compared to PowerBASIC eg: Standard version costs $300, Various controls and addins bump prices closer to $1000. Can create Windows GUI objects.

Bliz BASIC: ($0-$100)
Costs money (up to $100) but its reasonable and a one off payment unlike the Visual BASIC and RealBASIC where every PC installed on needs a new purchase. Blitz BASIC is geared more towards games programming and there are different versions. (Blitz MAX and Blitz3D) (Bltiz3D an older version but still very usable is now free). Caveat can only do DirectX which means 3D is possible on only Windows PC. Blitz Max can output for Mac and PC as well.

DarkBASIC ($40)
This BASIC is also geared towards games programming and is Windows only and DirectX only. Also, this BASIC is closer to the older BASIC’s of the 80’s due to less sophisticated language constructs.

FreeBASIC (Free)
An excellent version of modern BASIC. Has many free libraries to carry out any task imaginable. Can also create Windows GUI applications. A bit tricky to setup due to the need to add an editor to actually edit any code (and also install libraries). FBEditor is good.

ThinBASIC: (Free)
A comprehensive and fantastic BASIC but… it is interpreted. But can still produce very impressive Windows (another caveat, Windows only) applications including DirectX games (try the examples).

There are other BASICs available too such as GLBASIC, BASIC4GL (if you want to do OpenGL games programming, GLBASIC is quite primitive, but multi platform). MonkeyX.

Try these and I think you will find Python has no advantage except hype.

Well one clear advantage of Python is in web programming where your web hosting company may be able to run python scripts. But, then again, it is a 100% guarantee that you will be able to run ASP (a subset of Visual BASIC) scripts on any Windows hosting provider.