Basic for games only

[Coolman]

qb64 has everything you need to create utility programs. the only drawback is the size of the generated programs compared to freebasic for example.

[James D Jarvis]

Decent games are often harder to program than utility programs, I've never understood the "games are kiddie programming" notion because of this.

[Dav]

I'm sure there are many great non-game projects being made in QB64.  QB has always been a great language for quickly throwing together useful tools, and working out code ideas.  Most of my QB programming history has been making command line tools and utilities.  My first big project in QB (with .BAT helper files) was a remote control program over Hayes modems (DOS only, not Win).  We set up one computer to wait for the call, dial in from the another one and login. We could view the screen, and navigate directories, list & delete files, and even transfer files using XMODEM protocol.   I didn't start making games in QB until QB64 can along, and do that just for fun. 

- Dav

[euklides]

qb64 has everything you need to create utility programs. the only drawback is the size of the generated programs compared to freebasic for example.

You can use UPX for instance to reduce the size:  2000.000->650.000  (1/3~) Works fine

[Coolman]

qb64 has everything you need to create utility programs. the only drawback is the size of the generated programs compared to freebasic for example.

You can use UPX for instance to reduce the size:  2000.000->650.000  (1/3~) Works fine

for console utilities often run in bash scripts several times, upx is not recommended because it slows down the program but it is a solution for other types of programs.

very simple comparison between freebasic and QB64.

freebasic - size of the compiled program : 42ko

Code: (Select All)

print "hello"
end

QB64 - size of the compiled program : 605ko

Code: (Select All)

$Console:Only
Print "hello"
End

the difference is important.

[Kernelpanic]

Such comparisons are misleading. In order to create an exe file, even for the simplest file such as "Hallo, Welt" all the necessary libs & co have to be integrated so that an exe file is functional.

From the example below you can see that even a file that contains much more source code does not grow with the source code.
Hallo Welt! -> 1.99MB
Auszahlungsdauer -> 2.00 MB - only 0.01 MB larger.

[bobalooie]

I am a professional electrical engineer. I've written a handful of games but most of my programming projects are in simulations and analysis programs for my work (fault current analyses, voltage drop calculations, light level analyses, etc.) QB45 and VB-DOS were my tools back in the day; QB64 is even more capable.

[aurel]

I am a professional electrical engineer

 Ok ..so where we can download your analog circuit simulator ?

 just a idea?


.................................................................................................................
My question about linux version is :
Can i make simple code editor in qb64 - linux without external libs?
or using just scintilla .dll like i can on windows ?

[Pete]

Such comparisons are misleading. In order to create an exe file, even for the simplest file such as "Hallo, Welt" all the necessary libs & co have to be integrated so that an exe file is functional.

From the example below you can see that even a file that contains much more source code does not grow with the source code.
Hallo Welt! -> 1.99MB
Auszahlungsdauer -> 2.00 MB - only 0.01 MB larger.

Haven't you heard? Size doesn't matter anymore. At least that's what Steve keeps telling my wife...

You know in QuickBasic (QB4.5) you had an option to cut down on exe size by compiling only with the needed libraries, and making the exe a "Compact Executable." Seriously, with memory not being an issue these days, and especially for small programs, I don't think such an option is needed any longer. It may even exist, as I have heard of this talked about before, but I simply have no interest in it since memory limits have improved so much over the years.

Pete

[Kernelpanic]

You know in QuickBasic (QB4.5) you had an option to cut down on exe size by compiling only with the needed libraries, and making the exe a "Compact Executable." Seriously, with memory not being an issue these days, and especially for small programs, I don't think such an option is needed any longer. It may even exist, as I have heard of this talked about before, but I simply have no interest in it since memory limits have improved so much over the years.

Yes, I can remember that. I just checked again - I have the manuals and the technical reference for QuickBasic and QBasic. I also compiled from DOS a few times, but I only really used this possibility under QuickC.
From memory: With some programs it has visibly brought something, with others it has brought only little.

But today that really doesn't matter anymore. I bought a 2nd external HD with 2TB at the end of last year for €60.00. The HD is divided into 4 partitions, two for backup C:\ and D:\, one with Fat32 for old programs, and the rest for free use. A total of about 1.4TB are still free on the HD.


Disk storage is practically no longer an issue today, not for everyday programs.