[Question] Difference Between Qbasic and Visual Basic

[Nafae]

What is the difference between all the Basic languages? I have seen a bunch of them, but what are they for? IE: qbasic, visual basic, basic...

[mrbojangle]

ok qbasic: thedos version of the first programming software ever invinted. it had few functions.. ones that only you could do in dos. It uses code such as:
"10 print "hello world"
"20 type "yes or no?" x=x"
"30 if x=x goto 10"
-------------------------------------
all that visual basic is is the windows version of qbasic. with all the compatibility and functions that windows supports.
i would never ever go back to qbasic.. "VB IS FINE FOR ME":D

[verifier]

Sorry. Thats close.

One of the first versions availible for PC's was gwbasic. It was supplied with dos 2.0 and above.
It was linebased programming language. That means that it doesnt have any functions or subroutines. All variables were global. Not so robust language.

The next version that came out was qbasic. It was subroutine based. Still a DOS language. And like gwbasic you had to have an interpeter to run the program, they were not standalone like visual basic programs. Since you can declare local variables and use subroutines it was more stable than gwbasic.

The next generation of basic was Visual Basic that have matured to a RAD (Rapid Application Development) language. VB is eventdriven. That means that you dont have to create loops to wait on input from users. When a user for example presses a mouse button, a specific piece of code is executed.

Visual Basic is far more complex than qbasic and gwbasic, but in the same time it's much easier to use when developing complex desktop application programs.


SPELLING

[verifier]

And there were a number of basic variants for ABC80, AMIGA etc before the pc versions.

[mrbojangle]

:shocked: O.o ok you win! lmao :-D i wasnt around when they had gwbasic, i hardly know any qbasic. Everything you said was correct but i just simplified notice where i said VB had all the function and compatabibilty of windows..[/qutoe] thats basically the same as [quote]Visual Basic is far more complex than qbasic and gwbasic, but in the same time it's much easier to use when developing complex desktop application programs. im just trying to keep it plain and simple for the learners like nafae who asked the question :-D j/k
but thnx for putting where people like you and me can understand it.
-MATT

[mrbojangle]

somewhere i meesed up on the quote code.. o well i dont fell like fixing it! :D

[cdt]

I saw this thread and just had to post an answer.

I still have to maintain a few gwbasic programs where I work. Having only programmed for a few years, I find it fun to delve in and have a history lesson now and again! 8)

[Strike]

Actually, there was an intermediate step between QBasic and VB - QuickBasic, which was essentially the same as QBasic (can't even remember the differences). There was also another BASIC around the time of gw-basic as well, basica. And of course, on Apples there are several BASICs as well - the oldest being AppleBASIC, which is what most of the first Apple programs were coded in (like Oregon Trail for the old ][e series); FutureBasic and HyperBasic were more VB-like and came out a little after QBasic and QuickBasic (if memory serves).

[mrbojangle]

ya, i have heard about those now that i have looked into it, it was all before i was old enough to understand computers, lol, im glad we dont have to use that no more, its easy, but it has LITTLE functions, heh

[Ch00k]

Originally posted by Strike
Actually, there was an intermediate step between QBasic and VB - QuickBasic, which was essentially the same as QBasic (can't even remember the differences). QuickBasic allowed you to compile your software to EXE files. It was the first language I ever developed "real" programs on (ie, programs that didnt need qbasic.exe to run :))

[mrbojangle]

QuickBasic? ahh, yes, i think o.O;; lol :)

[xilica]

well, i mastered quick basic and i am currently workin on visual basic ....... anyway
quick basic is all text base
visual basic has an interface


in quick basic to make a project you have to program it out instead of just lying tools in visual basic

visual basic was designed for windows when it became more popular sine quick basic had no "visual" interface.

here is an example,



CLS 'Clear Screen
PRINT "Hi" 'Says high on the screen when you press F1


note: F5 runs the program
i added CLS because if i hit F5 again to run the program it wont show hi again it will just print "hi" with nothing else. with no CLS and consistent F5's you will just see "hi" like this

hi
hi
hi

with CLS you wil just see

hi

no matter how many times you run the program

[Tarkus]

Actually, I'm sorry to differ with almost all of you... I'm going to go through what was basically the PC versions... I may be incorrect though between Basica and GWbasic in which one came first.

Basica,GWbasic,Basic
These didn't have functions, but they did have subroutines, there were functions defined by DEF FN I believe the command was, but it only handled one vbariable to be passed... there were subroutines eg.

10 PRINT "HELLO I AM GOING TO LINE 40 NOW FOR SOME FUN"
20 GOSUB 40
30 END
40 PRINT "HELLO I AM AT LINE 40"
50 RETURN

Basically a very linear programming language with no private variables, or named functions/subroutines. Variables names were limited to 4 or 8 characters.

QuickBasic, Qbasic
QuickBasic was non-compilable whereas Qbasic was compilable, meaning Quickbasic was merely interpreted. QuickBasic came with some versions of MS-DOS whereas Qbasic was purchased. They were both limited to a maximum of 32/64k of stack space (Qbasic 7.1 could go to the 640k limit through dyanamic arrays). These two featured private variables, named Subs/functions and as always, built in graphics routines. Oh, and unlike previous versions of basic, QB did not require line numbers.

VB for DOS
This was made by another company that microsoft hired to make it... I'm sure you've seen alot of DOS programs with a windows style interface but with text instead of graphics... This one features drag and drop controls on to a form, and the basic stuff that Qbasic had but with object style stuff too like

FrmMain.Width = 80

I still toy with this one once in a while, very cool :D

And here we are with Visual Basic, although VB.NET seems more like java from what I've seen of it...

That's how I remember it since I started programming when I was a kid.

[Strike]

You switched QBasic and QuickBasic, I believe. QBasic was most definitely free (as in beer), because I never bought it and I had it, came with whatever DOS I was using at the time, MS-DOS 6.20 maybe?

[Tarkus]

Originally posted by Strike
You switched QBasic and QuickBasic, I believe. QBasic was most definitely free (as in beer), because I never bought it and I had it, came with whatever DOS I was using at the time, MS-DOS 6.20 maybe?

Well, the exectuables are called Qbasic.exe(quickbasic) and QB.exe(Qbasic)...

[dark_thing]

I believe QuickBASIC also added some functionality (metacommands spring to mind) which allowed you some more programming flexability. QuickBASIC 4.5, at least, gave you this option -- you could easily download a library for, say, 640x480x256 graphics mode and mouse support, include it in just a few lines of code, and take advantage of it as you would any other functions/subs.

I do still use QB 4.5; I find it's the easiest way to test and tweak an algorithm before coding it in a more efficient language. I'd be interested to hear what the differences between QB4.5 and PDS are; I have PDS 7.1 but have never gotten around to installing it. (I see now that Tarkus mentioned the ability to pass the 64K stack limit -- any other differences?)

[Blag]

And like gwbasic you had to have an interpeter to run the program, they were not standalone like visual basic programs.

Sorry, but......Visual Basic is an interpreted language....what means that it needs a file in order to run.....you need a runtime file.......so, VB it's not exactly standalone as C++ for example.

Anyway......there are two versions of QBasic, as far as i know......with one you actully need the QB.exe in order to run your apps, but in the other (I don't remember, i think it's QBasic 7.0), you can compile your app's and produce exe files.....i can post the name later, if you are interested.

Of course, the size of this compile Apps is so limit...so don't expect to make a great game or a database app.

I still use QBasic, coz i like old programming languages :angry:
But........when i was developing a Interactive Fiction game......QBasic went too short on memory, so i moved it to C++.........great translation work! :D

Got also the Visual Basic 1.0 for DOS, pretty cool for the oldies.....haven't code anything yet with it, but planned to do it! :sick:

[verifier]

Originally posted by Blag
[B]Sorry, but......Visual Basic is an interpreted language....what means that it needs a file in order to run.....you need a runtime file.......so, VB it's not exactly standalone as C++ for example.

well. Windows C++ programs need atleast msvcrt.dll, they arent standalone either. But since msvcrt.dll is distributed with all windows platforms we count it as standalone. Same with VB. VB dlls are disted with newer windows systems.

Originally posted by Blag
Anyway......there are two versions of QBasic, as far as i know......with one you actully need the QB.exe in order to run your apps, but in the other (I don't remember, i think it's QBasic 7.0), you can compile your app's and produce exe files.....i can post the name later, if you are interested.


mkay. I only knew about qb.exe

[bubby03_24]

Basically the only noticable difference between the two is obviously the interfaces used to construct the programs. VisualBasic, as the name states, is a visual program and uses OOP (Object Oriented Programming), which allows you to drag and drop lables and icons onto a form and program them in the future. The VisualBasic programs can then be saved and executed as .EXE files. With Qbasic, the programming happens all within a DOS environment. It turns out that the similarity between Qbasic and VisualBasic really isn't that significant. QBasic is probably the easier out of the 2 I would have to say. All the variables and keywords are pretty much explainatory. It always gets difficult though when it gets into the GOSUBS and nested IF's and DO's.