IBM VisualAge for BASIC?

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Feb 28, 2012, 10:06:02 PM2/28/12

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Folks!

My young son is showing some interest in computer programming...what I want to
walk him through is the real basics...thus the focus on BASIC!

There used to be VisualAge for BASIC product on our platform some time
back...and judging by various posts it wasn't really much of a success.
However...I am looking for something that basically has a decent GUI and very
straight forward 'hello world' type program development capabilities.

I have VA for C/C++ installed here, Watcom, etc, etc...but do not want him
starting with something like C or Java...we want very simple...

Any ideas, recommendations?

Remember, 9yo is your audience...

Dave Yeo

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Feb 28, 2012, 11:20:46 PM2/28/12

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There is always qbasic, very primitive IDE but it comes with OS/2.
If you want him to learn something more structured there are a few
implementations of Pascal on OS/2 as well.
Dave

Peter Brown

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Feb 29, 2012, 6:22:57 AM2/29/12

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Hi Dariusz

I think that WDSibyl - http://wdsibyl.org/ - would also be worth a look;
visual application design using drag'n'drop and Pascal is a relatively
easy language to get to grips with.

However, the documentation is mainly in German...

It is very similar to Borlands Delphi (v2/v3) for Windows so you could
try and get copies of some Delphi books eg "Delphi for Dummies" as a
starter along with "Mastering Delphi 2 for Windows 95/NT". If lucky you
may find copies in a public library or for sale at a reasonable price on
ebay.

Just a thought...

Regards

Pete

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Feb 29, 2012, 10:05:12 AM2/29/12

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Hi Dave!

Actually...that was indeed one of the first things I tried...seeing BASIC.COM,
BASICA.COM & QBASIC.EXE caused memories of programming early Commodore64 rush
through my head...LOL...problem though, on my OS2 machine, attempting to open up
a DOS window actually fails. I believe there is some kind of a problem with
either the SNAP drivers and my ATI 850XT video card, or some other part of the
system.

I did my share of Pascal back in the high-school days (North America circa
'87-'89) so indeed, that may be worth a try.

Thanks!

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Feb 29, 2012, 4:54:19 PM2/29/12

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Hi Peter!

On Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:22:57 UTC, Peter Brown <losepeteS...@ntlworld.com>
wrote:

OK, trying it right now...I found WDBasic there as well...haven't had a chance
to look at it yet though...

Thanks!

A.D. Fundum

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Feb 29, 2012, 4:58:02 PM2/29/12

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> thus the focus on BASIC!

/**/;SAY "What?!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_BASIC

Please note that some environments, unlike GUIs like VisualAge for
Basic's, are more attractive for beginners, because just an uncompiled
print "Hello, world!" is less hard to use. If I look at VisualAge for
Basic, I see a form of some project, with matching difficult
requirements. Does a first "Hello, world!" really require an OK
button?

--

Andreas Kohl

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Mar 1, 2016, 3:21:13 PM3/1/16

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Dobry wieczór,

Am 29.02.12 um 04.06 schrieb Dariusz Piatkowski:

> Folks!
>
> My young son is showing some interest in computer programming...what I want to
> walk him through is the real basics...thus the focus on BASIC!
>
> There used to be VisualAge for BASIC product on our platform some time
> back...and judging by various posts it wasn't really much of a success.
> However...I am looking for something that basically has a decent GUI and very
> straight forward 'hello world' type program development capabilities.

Yes, a limited beta version came with Warp 4 Application Sampler. It's
use was more an interface for DB2 database stuff, similiar to
CA-Realizer something for RAD or doing prototypes.

> I have VA for C/C++ installed here, Watcom, etc, etc...but do not want him
> starting with something like C or Java...we want very simple...
>
> Any ideas, recommendations?

At <http://www.edm2.com> there are also longer lists of native or
DOS-based solutions for each programming language. I can recommend
Virtual Pascal. Most Turbo Pascal samples need only a change for the
unit to produce a 32-bit OS/2 or Win program. And it can also do more
fancier things.

--
Andreas

Allan

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Mar 2, 2016, 9:12:13 PM3/2/16

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Then you might wanna try WDSibyl, which is Pascal and RAD just as
mentioned BASIC package.

http://wdsibyl.org

--
Allan.

It is better to close your mouth, and look like a fool,
than to open it, and remove all doubt.

A.D. Fundum

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Mar 4, 2016, 3:57:18 AM3/4/16

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The former young son now probably is graduated in Computer Sciences,
but BASIC wasn't a restriction and it had to be simple. In general:
any of the visual Rexx environments, like the free VisPro/Rexx suite
or equivalents. Rexx is simple, and the GUI aren't too complicated.
One can start with SAA Rexx to learn basic programming skills, and
then continue with such an IDE.

--