SmallBASIC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SmallBASIC (SB) is a free software (GPL2) BASIC dialect with interpreters for Linux, DOS, Win32, VTOS, Franklin eBookMan, and Palm OS.
Contents |
[edit] Description
The dialect is described by the authors as a second generation BASIC, and has a lot in common with QBasic. It is a structured BASIC, and contains the most advanced math functions and operators found on graphing calculators such as matrices and Gauss-Jordan method. It has been suggested that this BASIC variant is good for beginners.
[edit] Intended application
SmallBASIC was not designed to be an application development environment, but was instead designed to be a simple, lightweight environment for experimentation. The strong mathematical support and inclusion of high level graphics commands like "chart" (which draws an automatically scaled and labeled graph of an array) make it ideal for tasks that are too complex for a desk calculator, but don't require a full math package like Mathematica. The fact that it runs on Palm OS devices greatly expands its usefulness as a super calculator.
[edit] Platforms
SmallBASIC was designed to run on minimal hardware. One of the primary platforms supported is Palm OS, where memory, CPU cycles, and screen space are limited. The SmallBASIC graphics engine can use ASCII graphics (similar to ASCII art) and therefore run many programs on pure text devices. Fossil, Inc. makes a Palm OS wristwatch, SmallBASIC runs even on this wristwatch.