Basic4GL

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>Tom Mulgrew created Basic4GL from a desire to be able to run OpenGL functions easily and quickly,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> without all of the setup normally required in a language such as c++ and be more stable. He built a virtual machine similar to one used at his workplace. It started simply, with few OpenGL functions and minimal other functionality. The first version was relatively popular.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
</p><p>The first version was named <a href="/facts/GLBasic/QXQgTM0F">GLBasic</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> which also happens to be a commercial programming language. The issue was civilly resolved, and Mulgrew's project renamed Basic4GL.
</p><p>Mulgrew set himself the goal to expand Basic4GL to the point that it could load and display and <a href="/facts/MD2_(file_format)/XuxlHVIo">MD2</a> model.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<h3>Versions</h3>
<p>2.3.0 - Added networking capability<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p><p>2.3.5 - Support for code compilation at runtime<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p><p>2.4.2 - Changed sound system from OpenAL to Audiere<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
</p><p>2.4.3 - Support for Plugin DLLs added<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>
</p><p>2.5.0 - Support for functions added<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>
</p><p>2.5.8 - Support for <a href="/facts/Hexadecimal_number/02ohQW22">hexadecimal numbers</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="versions">Versions</h2>
<p>Basic4GL was designed to run on the <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Windows</a> <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a>, but versions were being developed for <a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a> and <a href="/facts/Mac_OS/EkobAhow">Mac OS</a>. Meanwhile, <a href="/facts/Gambas/05FsfVTX">Gambas</a> also features an OpenGL 2.1 component, with GL bindings also available for <a href="/facts/FreeBASIC/zLmEybbq">FreeBASIC</a> and <a href="/facts/QB64/IjbnRVWF">QB64</a>.
</p>
<h3>Basic4GL for Linux</h3>
<p>Basic4GL was being ported over to Linux. The major difference between Basic4GL for Windows and the attempted Linux version is that it uses the <a href="/facts/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer/9tSff0Lg">SDL</a> library rather than Windows specific libraries to initialize an OpenGL enabled window.
</p>
<h3>Basic4GL for Mac</h3>
<p>A version for Mac OS was also under development. No working versions have been released.
</p>
<h3>Basic4SDL</h3>
<p>Based on the Linux build, a project to create an extended version of Basic4GL that wraps more closely to the SDL library (not to be confused with <a href="/facts/SDLBasic/41AVqXtn">SDLBasic</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a>
</p>
<h3>Basic4Games</h3>
<p>A successor to Basic4GL was also being developed dubbed "Basic4Games". Only one preview has been released.
</p>
<h3>Basic4GLj</h3>
<p>A port of the language to the <a href="/facts/Java_virtual_machine/l9Nzrsun">Java virtual machine</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="example-code">Example code</h2>
Dim A
For A = 0 To 4
  Printr "Hello "; A
Next

<p>When the above code is entered into Basic4GL and executed, the following is output to the monitor screen.
</p>
Hello 0
Hello 1
Hello 2
Hello 3
Hello 4

<h2 id="features">Features</h2>
<h3>Support for sound and music</h3>
<p>When Basic4GL was first released it could only play sounds but in 2006 support for music was added using the <a href="/facts/Open_Al/dM93Da1W">Open Al</a> sound engine but later replaced with <a href="/facts/Audiere/xNxcnRj4">Audiere</a>.
</p>
<h3>Functions and subroutines</h3>
<p>When Basic4GL was first released it had no support for <a href="/facts/Function_(computer_science)/9vFJrg0A">functions</a>. That changed however when version 2.5.0 was released in January 2008. Now Basic4GL has full support for <a href="/facts/Local_variable/q8sIjyhx">local variables</a>, <a href="/facts/Parameter_(computer_science)/LcuLbbSq">parameters</a>, <a href="/facts/Forward_declaration/0MfsIuRN">forward declaration</a> and <a href="/facts/Recursion_(computer_science)/2uXo18Gv">recursion</a>.
</p>
<h3>Plugins</h3>
<p>In August 2006 support for <a href="/facts/Plug-in_(computing)/351Du3Wu">Plugin</a> <a href="/facts/Dynamically_linked_library/vySyC1dz">DLLs</a> was added to Basic4GL. This means that you can write your own commands and include them in the Basic4GL programming language, all you need is a C++ <a href="/facts/Compiler/WNfCDFJe">Compiler</a>. Plugins expand the capabilities of Basic4GL and many
exist, providing such things as physics engines, <a href="/facts/TrueType/6kBap0kH">TrueType</a> Fonts, collision detection etc.
</p>
<h2 id="sourceforge">SourceForge</h2>
<p>Both Basic4GL for Windows and the new Linux version have been placed on <a href="/facts/SourceForge/lxYAgUAX">SourceForge</a>, this means that people are free to develop the languages and make improvements to them.
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>

<ul><li>Brutus2D</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Blitz_Basic/apXchp8x">Blitz Basic</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/DarkBASIC/138an6Jk">DarkBASIC</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/FreeBASIC/zLmEybbq">FreeBASIC</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/GLBasic/QXQgTM0F">GLBasic</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_BASIC_dialects/yXHk8YS2">List of BASIC dialects</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_BASIC_dialects_by_platform/yXHk8YS2">List of BASIC dialects by platform</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.basic4gl.net">Official website</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120919020551/http://b4gl-linux.wikispaces.com/">"Basic4GL for Linux"</a>. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2007.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080914091730/http://basic4gl.wikispaces.com/">"Basic4GL wikispace"</a>. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2007.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)</li>
<li><a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/basic4gl/">Basic4Games</a> on <a href="/facts/SourceForge/lxYAgUAX">SourceForge</a></li>
<li><a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/basic4sdl/">Basic4SDL - Linux</a> on <a href="/facts/SourceForge/lxYAgUAX">SourceForge</a></li>
<li><a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/audiere/">Audiere Audio System</a> on <a href="/facts/SourceForge/lxYAgUAX">SourceForge</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Any Questions?". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Any Questions?". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Any Questions?". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Any Questions?". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1984&page=1#12442</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "v2.3.0 released". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1803" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1803</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Version 2.3.5 released". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1808" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1808</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Basic4GL v2.4.2 is released". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1813" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1813</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Basic4GL v2.4.3 is released". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1816" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1816</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Basic4GL v2.5.0". ProBoards. Retrieved 14 June 2011. <a href="http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1831" target="_blank">http://basic4gl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Announce&action=display&thread=1831</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>Mulgrew, Tom. "Home". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011. <a href="http://www.basic4gl.net/" target="_blank">http://www.basic4gl.net/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>Wybiral (2007-02-18). "Basic". Ubuntu Forums. Basic4SDL: It's mostly an OpenGL+SDL playground for 3d graphics and such... But it works on linux and stays pretty true to the BASIC syntax. <a href="https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=363625" target="_blank">https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=363625</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:12"><p>Proven, Liam (2023-03-28). "Nostalgic for VB? BASIC is anything but dead". The Register. Retrieved 2023-09-27. While Basic4GL has gone quiet, a port of it to the JVM, Basic4GLj is in active development. <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/28/nostalgic_for_basic/" target="_blank">https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/28/nostalgic_for_basic/</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Basic4GL open-in-new

Basic4GL