QuickBASIC

QuickBASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language along with an integrated development environment (IDE) and compiler for MS-DOS, developed by Microsoft. Released in 1985 as an evolution of GW-BASIC, it provided a rich toolset for writing, debugging, and running BASIC programs within a single program interface.

The language retains the BASIC syntax, with line numbers optional, and supports structured programming constructs such as IF...THEN, SELECT CASE, DO...LOOP, and FOR...NEXT. It allows user-defined subroutines and functions using SUB and FUNCTION, and provides facilities for graphics, sound, file I/O, and interaction with DOS. QuickBASIC also offers an integrated editor and debugging support, and includes a built-in compiler that can generate standalone executable files from QuickBASIC source.

Usage and impact: QuickBASIC was widely used in education, small businesses, and hobbyist software development on IBM PC compatibles running MS-DOS. Its combination of a relatively friendly editor, helpful error messages, and the ability to compile programs into executables helped popularize PC programming in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It represents an important stage in the evolution of BASIC, preceding the later Windows-based languages such as Visual Basic.

See also GW-BASIC, QBasic, and Visual Basic.