AN INTRODUCTION TO MICROSOFT SMALL BASIC RUSTY KEELE

AN INTRODUCTION TO MICROSOFT SMALL BASIC RUSTY KEELE UETN TECH SUMMIT 2019

INTRODUCTION

TODAY’S PLAN • History lesson: BASIC language • What Small Basic is and isn’t • How to get Small Basic • A Demonstration • Resources for learning and teaching

ABOUT ME • Work at UEN • Programming since 4 th grade • BASIC (on Commodore 64) was my first programming language!

A SHORT HISTORY OF BASIC

BEGINNINGS AT DARTMOUTH • Early 1960 s - 2 Math Professors • Wanted an easy language for non-science students • Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

MICRO COMPUTERS AND MICRO-SOFT • 1975 – Gates & Allen’s first product • Built in or included with most home computers of the 1970 s and 1980 s

TYPE-IN PROGRAMS • From magazines and books • 101 BASIC Computer Games • School text book examples: “Try It In BASIC”

BASIC BASHING • GOTO and GOSUB created spaghetti code • Dijkstra’s infamous quote • "It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC. ” • The rise of structured programming: Pascal and C

THE DECLINE OF BASIC • More powerful home computers • Graphical environments • Increase in commercial and free software

“WHY JOHNNY CAN'T CODE” • No easy way for kids to get hooked on programming • Searched for an easy to use BASIC • …ended up buying a Commodore 64! • Issued a challenge to Microsoft

VIJAYE RAJI • Microsoft employee • Read Brin’s article • Created a new version of BASIC – Small Basic

WHAT IS MICROSOFT SMALL BASIC?

GOALS OF MICROSOFT SMALL BASIC • For beginners • A real (but simple) language • Fun

CONSISTS OF THREE DISTINCT PIECES • The language • The programming environment • Libraries

SMALL BASIC != SMALLBASIC • Small. BASIC • An open source BASIC • Available on Source. Forge

SMALL BASIC != QBASIC • QBasic = Microsoft’s Quick BASIC • For DOS operating system • Wasn’t object oriented • Had GOSUB!

SMALL BASIC != VISUAL BASIC. NET • Microsoft’s Visual Basic. NET • Small Basic is a subset of VB • Small Basic is much simpler • Users can “graduate” and export code to Visual Basic. NET

HOW TO GET/USE MICROSOFT SMALL BASIC

DOWNLOAD SMALL BASIC FOR WINDOWS • Version 1. 2 • • Supports Windows 10 - Vista Requires. NET Framework 4. 5 • Version 1. 0 • • Supports Windows XP and older Requires. NET 3. 5 SP 1

SMALL BASIC ONLINE VERSION • https: //smallbasicpublicwebsite. azurewebsites. net/ Program/Editor. aspx • Currently using version 0. 91 • Reference Documents mismatch

DEMONSTRATION

RESOURCES FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING

THE OFFICIAL TUTORIAL • 11 chapters (70 pages) • Good intro, with sample code • Quick Links > Tutorial

PROGRAMMING (E)BOOKS • 5 professional books • free sample chapters online • Quick Links > e. Books

WIKI: SMALL BASIC PORTAL • Overview, Getting Started, How To’s, Advanced Tips • Lots more! • Quick Links > Wiki

THE FREE CURRICULUM • 6 complete lessons (23 sessions) • View online or download nice Power. Point slides • Quick Links > Wiki > Small Basic Curriculum

SMALL BASIC BLOG • News, contests, code examples • Updated a couple times per month • https: //techcommunity. microsoft. com/t 5/Small-Basic-Blog/bgp/Small. Basic

YOUTUBE VIDEOS • Literally hundreds of videos • About all aspects of Small Basic • Of varying lengths (1 - 10+ mins)

THE END

REFERENCES • Dartmouth image: https: //www. dartmouth. edu/basicfifty/basic. html • Wikipedia BASIC article: https: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/BASIC • Time article on BASIC: http: //time. com/69316/basic/ • BASIC screen shot: https: //tctechcrunch 2011. files. wordpress. com/2014/05/atari-basic-graphics-0 -screen-dli-not-activated 20130202. jpg? w=680&h=485 • book of games: http: //2. bp. blogspot. com/-b. DBA 6 l. So_rg/T 8 fz 47 k. ZUu. I/AAAAAc 8/XUXn. Wdyr. B 3 k/s 1600/101 -basic-computer-games. jpg • Dijkstra picture: https: //femgineer. com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/programming. jpeg • Decline graph: https: //www. cannamm. com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bigstock-D-Business-Decline-Graph-3683075. jpg • Why Johnny can't code: https: //www. salon. com/2006/09/14/basic_2/ • David Brin photo: https: //www. flickr. com/photos/57037724@N 03/5261411769/in/album-72157632003421870/ • Vijaye Raji's first blogpost about Small Basic: https: //techcommunity. microsoft. com/t 5/Small-Basic-Blog/Hello-World/ba-p/335289 • What is Small Basic? : http: //www. smallbasic. com/faq. aspx • Vijaye's picture: https: //www. bizjournals. com/seattle/news/2017/12/05/facebook-job-interview-process-seattle-hiring. html • Small. BASIC image: http: //smallbasic. github. io/images/screenshots/smallbasic_tetris. png • QBasic image: https: //arfanart. files. wordpress. com/2011/10/input-pemograman 3. jpg • Visual Basic image: http: //learninghints. com/images/IDE. JPG • Small Basic splash: https: //www. assignmenthelp. net/images/game/small-basic. png • That's All Folks image: https: //i. ytimg. com/vi/G_yahran. An. Q/maxresdefault. jpg

QUESTIONS & COMMENTS? • Download slide deck at: • • http: //c 64 sets. com/slides/ Conference site?