I would like to begin this discussion on my experiences with QBasic with a little background about
myself. I first learned the BASIC language in college in 1971 as a part of my Architectural
Engineering curriculum. As you can imagine, at that time, you wrote your code out longhand and
went to a keypunch machine to punch out the cards, one card per statement line. Then when you
were finished, you handed your pile of cards in and returned the next day to see what you got.
Sometimes, you got into a continuous loop and had a pile of paper and a nasty note from the
operator. The 'computer' filled a room probably 30' X 40' and it probably didn't have the
capabilities our PC's do today. I realize this a little archaic to many of you but that was
my first experience with a computer language and it fascinated me.
I used my newfound knowledge in several subsequent classes but when I decided college was
not for me and went off to seek my fortune, I pretty much forgot about programming in any way, shape
or form. Then in 1980, since my sister and brother-in-law owned several computer stores in the St.
Louis area, I decided to purchase a personal computer of my own and at that time, the one to own
was an APPLE II+ (top of the line with it's 32k memory, 40 column monochrome display and .75mhz
operating speed). After purchasing my new toy and discovering it had AppleSoft BASIC built in,
I decided to see how it compared to the BASIC I had learned several years previous. I found that
it was very similar and after purchasing several books to assist me, I was soon programming for my
own pleasure and entertainment. The programs I wrote were simple yet did what I wanted them to
do and if they did not, I had a certain amount of success getting them to do so.
Then, in 1991, I opened a business here in my home town. After a year of operating the
business with paper and ledger with a little assistance from the APPLE IIGS which I had purchased
a couple years prior, I decided to buy an IBM clone specifically for the business operation. Naturally,
I soon discovered QBasic, the language which came with my version of Windows. I then proceeded
to try to learn this language. It, again was similar to the other versions of BASIC I had learned
previously but also had it's specific qualities. It was the most powerful language I had learned
up to that point and I was once again fascinated with my new adventure.
On this page, I will include some routines I have written and use extensively to make the
operation of an average QBasic program easier. As in any endeavor, I probably do many things
quite differently than you will or do but hopefully it will give you something to think about. That
is what this page was written to do, stimulate to come up with your own solution.
Return to this page for future links to other QBasic pages and to full programs and short
routines which you can download and incorporate in your programs.
Copyright © 1996 by Lee Bonnett | 8 ^ )
