SmallBASIC

Chris Warren-Smith

About this app

SmallBASIC is a fast and easy to learn BASIC programming language interpreter ideal for everyday calculations, scripts and prototypes. SmallBASIC includes trigonometric, matrices and algebra functions, a powerful string library, system, and graphic commands along with structured programming syntax.

NOTE: This is *not* "Small Basic" from Microsoft. This is the open source GPL version 3 licensed SmallBASIC originally made for the Palm Pilot and later ported to the Franklin eBookman and Nokia 770 devices.

SmallBASIC works well with "Hacker's Keyboard" available separately.

Some of SmallBASIC's features are:

- SmallBASIC is a multi-platform BASIC language: Currently, Linux, Windows and Android are supported.

- The language is pretty compact: The Debian installer for Linux, for example, comes as a single 340 kb file.

- SmallBASIC features a very comprehensive set of mathematical functions.

- It is an interpreted language with no compilation runs required.

- SmallBASIC supports structured programming, user-defined structures and modularized source files. It is not object-oriented, though.

- It also shows much leeway in questions of syntax: For many commands, there are alternatives, and for many constructs, there are different synonyms available.

- SmallBASIC comes with its own little IDE.

- Graphics primitives (like lines, circles, etc.) are provided, as well as sound and simple GUI functions.

SmallBASIC, which was originally created for the Palm Pilot personal digital assistant in the late 1990's by Nicholas Christopoulos.

Join the discussion forum:
https://smallbasic.discourse.group

Please report any crashes to one of the following. Be sure to include a small snippet of code causing the issue.

- https://github.com/smallbasic/SmallBASIC/issues
- email: [e-mail]

Ratings and reviews

QBasic was my intro to programming, when I stumbled upon it in my middle school computer lab (it was already considered obsolete at that point, but I didn't learn that until after putting many hours into it!). I know this isn't QBasic, but it's similar enough to it that programming in it scratches the nostalgic itch I sometimes get. This is an excellent app, very well made, & while the interface takes getting used to it becomes easy to figure out after a short time. I highly recommend this!

Works great on ny old phone. Creates a smallbasic folder and saves your programs. Android 5. On my newer phone, no folder. But I found a hack! I copy my program and data files to new files (.bas) when smallbasic is running (click on Files, copy your data, click new). Your program can then access your data files (.bas)!! It works!! Happy now.

I felt that my original review was unfair to those who created this and maintain it. It does take some effort to figure out the file system but overall it's an amazing program. Someone needs to make a beginners guide to this and put it on YouTube and somehow make it findable. Chris, I saw your response after posting this. My original wasn't me at my best. LoL Thanks to you and your team for what you do.

What’s new

Fix regressions with web-ui and GPS api handling.
Fix issues with PLAY command.
New App icon.
New API for USB Serial communications