gwbasic is a Windows utility that contains an integrated development environment based on Dartmouth BASIC. Like in QBasic, it is possible to use the cursor movement keys to edit any line on the screen. The list of available keyboard shortcuts is located at the bottom of the interface.

Main functionality

The gwbasic language is almost identical to BASICA, except that it does not require the Cassette BASIC ROM found in the original IBM PC. Moreover, there are many new options for the sound, graphics and memory management systems.

You can create variables with names up to 40 characters in length. Complex WHILE…WEND loops are available as well. The OPTION BASE statement is necessary to set the starting index as either 0 or 1.

There is support for dynamic string space allocation. Users are able to save programs in a tokenized binary format or as ASCII text. The CHAIN and MERGE commands are intended for linking separate code snippets together.

History

This language was widely used as a simple and low cost way for many aspiring programmers to learn the fundamentals. Additionally, a wide variety of simple games, business software and educational applications was developed with the help of the platform.

Features

free to download and use;
contains a legacy development environment;
intended for research or educational purposes;
supports all types of IBM PC compatible machines;
compatible with all modern versions of Windows.