ABOUT PROGRAMMING:

Programming is a way for you to tell the computer what to o! The computer is your "sla#e" an has to o what you comman it to o! $or the computer to %now what to o you ha#e to gi#e it instructions in a way that the computer can un erstan !

ABOUT PROGRAMMING &O'(:

Now) the instructions that the computer can un erstan are #ery comple* an non+intuiti#e) so languages were e#elope to ma%e instructions easier) in one BA,I& instruction there can -e many instructions accomplishe that you on.t nee to worry a-out! (#en Assem-ly is a set of instructions to ma%e the computer instructions easier) -ut BA,I& is much easier than assem-ly!

ABOUT BA,I&:
BA,I& stan s for Beginners All+purpose Sym-olic Instruction Co e! ,o it.s ma e for -eginners) an you can use it for whate#er nee you ha#e) hence all+purpouse) there are other languages that ha#e -eginners in min ) -ut one part of the philosophy of BA,I& is that e#en though it is simple it can o many a #ance tas%s as well) to %eep you inspire an to help you -uil the pro/ects that you want to! Many languages -uil t for -eginners only ma%es you o certain tas%s an limits your free om! BA,I& oes /ust the opposite) it tries NOT to limit you) it trusts you to %now that you shoul n.t ta%e the 0I11 instruction lightly 2as it will erase files from the har is%3) an when you finally nee the 0I11 instruction an ha#e learne how to use it then you are free to o so4

ABOUT T5( BA,I& IN,TRU&TION,:

The BA,I& instructions are often calle "Statements") or "&omman s") in the wi%i an in many situations they can also -e calle "0eywor s" so you might want to remem-er that as well) "statements" are use in this tutorial though from now on 2an -ol e so that it repeats in your hea :3 3! The statements ha#e names that resem-les the english language) li%e $OR) N(6T) I$) T5(N) GOTO 2go to3) etc!) so when you ha#e learne how they wor% they are #ery easy to remem-er! ,omestatements are shortene so that it is easier to type 2li%e &1, + CLear Screen3) -ut once you learne them you are instantly remin e of their use if you loo% at the name!

ABOUT ARGUM(NT,:
Arguments are the information that you gi#e to a statement in or er for the statement to o as you want) a argument can -e the te*t to isplay to the screen) or what color a ot on the screen shoul ha#e! In real life you coul gi#e someone an instruction to paint your car) the argument woul -e which color the car shoul -e + or e#en if it is the car that shoul -e painte or the house 2so it epen s on the statement what arguments that goes with it3! There are also statements without arguments) an statements where some arguments are optional) you can rea a-out that in the Argument page!

ABOUT 7ARIAB1(,:
One important part of programming are variables) the name #aria-les comes from the fact that they can change) a #aria-le can hol a num-er for e*ample) an then you can change the num-er to whate#er you want! The #aria-le can ha#e any name you want e*cept for BA,I& statements 2since the computer will thin% it is a statement an not a #aria-le3! .*. can -e a #aria-le) now we can tell .*. to -e whate#er num-er we want) if we want it to -e .89. then we /ust type this: x = 10 .*. e:uals 89) or if we type this: x = 10 + 1 .*. e:uals 89 ; 8) so now .*. e:uals 88! ,o we can tell .*. to -e any num-er we want! .*. can of course -e any name you want) you can for e*ample name it .money. instea ) li%e: money = 1000 <hich ma%es .money. e:ual 8999!

$or #aria-les to -e useful we nee something to isplay them) BA,I& has a statement for this of course) an it is name .PRINT.) PRINT isplays what you want to the screen! ,o we can type this: money = 1000 PRINT money Now the #alue that .money. hol s is isplaye to the screen! If you want PRINT to isplay te*t you nee to ha#e the te*t in :uotation mar%s 2"3 so that it isn.t -eing confuse with #aria-les! ,o we can type this: PRINT "Hello" This will isplay the te*t "5ello" to the screen! =ou may want to change the color of the te*t) the &O1OR statement oes that) there are 8> colors to choose from 29 to 8?3 an each color is a num-er 2@ is re for instance3) so if we want the te*t to -e re we type this: COLOR 4 PRINT "Hello" ,ometimes we woul li%e to isplay -oth te*t an the #alue of a #aria-le) then we ha#e to seperate the te*t an the #aria-le -y a semicolon "A" li%e this: money = 1000 PRINT "Money:"; money This will isplay "Money: 8999" to the screen!

ABOUT T(6T 7ARIAB1(,:

In or er to iffer or inary #alue #aria-les from te*t #aria-les we use a B after the #aria-le! 1i%e #alues we can set a te*t #aria-le to -e whate#er te*t we want) -e sure to use :uotation mar%s for the program to %now it isn.t a #aria-le 2"3) li%e this: myname$ = "Arnold" =ou can also a te*t an isplay it) li%e this:

myname$ = "Arnold" + " Schwarzenegger" PRINT myname$

Of course you can also com-ine e#erything) li%e this 2&1, clears the screen3:

CLS money = 1000 myname$ = "Arnold" + " Schwarzenegger" PRINT "My name is: "; myname$; " and I have"; money; " dollars." The te*t "Arnol ,chwarCenegger" can of course -e containe in a single te*t string) li%e this: myname$ = "Arnold Schwarzenegger" Te*t #aria-les are often calle "strings"!

ABOUT INPUT:
,ometimes we woul want the user of our program to -e a-le to set a #aria-le -y himself) this can -e accomplishe -y using the statement INPUT) li%e this:

INPUT "Your name: "; myname$ This will isplay "=our name: " on the screen while waiting for the user to input his name! =ou can later isplay it on the screen using PRINT) li%e this: CLS INPUT "Your name: "; myname$ INPUT "How much money do you have?: "; money PRINT "Your name is: "; myname$; " and you have"; money; " dollars!"

&OMPARING PROGRAM 7A1U(,:

IF is a #ery important statement) it compares your #aria-le to a certain con ition an if that
con ition comes true then you can tell the computer what to o ne*t! $or e*ample) if the user has less than 89 ollars then you might want to reply that he is poor) an if the user has more than 8999 ollars then you might want to reply that he is rich! 1i%e this:

IF money < 10 THEN PRINT "You are poor." IF money > 1000 THEN PRINT "You are rich." D is less than an E is more than! <hat if the user has -etween 89 an 8999 in moneyF Then we can o li%e this: IF money > 10 AND money < 1000 THEN PRINT "You are neither rich nor poor." <hen using AN' -oth con itions has to -e true) money has to -e more than 89 an money has to -e less than 8999! But what if money e:uals 89 or 8999F <ell) we coul ma%e a new con ition li%e this: IF money = 10 OR money = 1000 THEN PRINT "You are neither rich nor poor." <hen using OR either con ition can -e true an it will PRINT "=ou are neither rich nor poor!") howe#er it isn.t necessary to ha#e a new con ition) instea you coul /ust o it li%e this: IF money >= 10 AND money <= 1000 THEN PRINT "You are neither rich nor poor." EG is more than or e:ual to) DG is less than or e:ual to! O%) so now we might want to remin him that he is -ro%e if money e:uals 9) li%e this:

IF money = 0 THEN PRINT "You are broke!" ,o) let.s show the program in its full glory4 CLS INPUT "Your name: "; myname$ INPUT "How much money do you have?: "; money PRINT "Your name is: "; myname$; " and you have"; money; " dollars!" IF money < 10 THEN PRINT "You are poor." IF money > 1000 THEN PRINT "You are rich." IF money >= 10 AND money <= 1000 THEN PRINT "You are neither rich nor poor." IF money = 0 THEN PRINT "You are broke!" O%) -ut there is one thing to -e a e ) you see) if money G 9 then it will print -oth "=ou are poor!" an "=ou are -ro%e4"!!!we can ma%e it only print "=ou are -ro%e4" if money e:uals 9) we only nee to change the first con ition 2I$ money D 893 to this:

IF money < 10 AND money <> 0 THEN PRINT "You are poor."

DE is "not") so if money is less than 89 an money is not 9 then it will print "=ou are poor!") so when money is 9 then it will only print "=ou are -ro%e4"! 1et.s show the entire program one more time: CLS INPUT "Your name: "; myname$ INPUT "How much money do you have?: "; money PRINT "Your name is: "; myname$; " and you have"; money; " dollars!" IF money < 10 AND money <> 0 THEN PRINT "You are poor (or you owe money)." IF money > 1000 THEN PRINT "You are rich." IF money >= 10 AND money <= 1000 THEN PRINT "You are neither rich nor poor." IF money = 0 THEN PRINT "You are broke!" I also a e "2or you owe money3" as the user might enter a negati#e #alue 2one that is D 9 li%e +893 an this program won.t co#er that situation) to practice you coul try to fin a way to co#er that!

ABOUT GRAP5I&,:
,ooner or later you will want to play aroun with graphics! As you might ha#e notice all we ha#e one in this tutorial as of yet is to iscuss how to o things with te*t) you can isplay te*t in a graphics mo e + -ut you can.t isplay graphics in a te*tmo e) this section will co#er how to setup a graphics mo e! 5ere follows some easy to use graphics statements:

SCREEN + ,ets a ifferent screenmo e so that you can use graphics! PSET + Pi*el SET) which sets a pi*el anywhere on the screen in any color! POINT + <hich loo%s at a point on the screen an gi#es what color that point is! CIRCLE + <hich raws a circle anywhere on the screen) in any siCe an any color! LINE + <hich raws a line -etween two points on the screen) in any color!

<e start with ,&R((N) as we ha#e to change the screenmo e from te*t to graphics! There are many ifferent screenmo es -ut we start with screenmo e 8H 2which is HI9JI99 an I?> colors3! <e simply type this: SCREEN 13

Now we are in screenmo e 8H) which can -e use to isplay graphics) you ha#e to ha#e that line in the program for any of the following statements to wor%! A goo place to start when isplaying graphics is P,(T) it raws a pi*el on the screen 2a pi*el is a point on the screen that is lit an can -e in any color3) in or er for the computer to %now where to raw the pi*el we nee to gi#e it coor inates) the * coor inate is the horiContal coor inate D++++++E an y is the #ertical coor inate 2upK own3) so we can o li%e this: PSET (50, 100) <here ?9 is the *+coor inate 2left+to+right3 an 899 is the y+coor inate 2up+to+ own3! Notice that we i n.t nee any argument for color as it will /ust assume the current te*t color when there is no argument) so we might want to fin out what color it is! <e can see that it is white) -ut what #alue is thatF <ell) let.s fin out using POINT) it loo%s at a screen coor inate an gi#es what color it is) we let a #aria-le name .col. store the #alue 2as we can.t use .color. since that is a statement3: PSET (50, 100) col = POINT (50, 100) PRINT col An it prints 8? in -right white4 <e might want to change color to!!!let.s say re ! I alrea y %now that the #alue for re is @) so we can o li%e this:

PSET (50, 100), 4 The thir argument is color! ,o now the pi*el will isplay in re instea of white! <e can point it to see the #alue: PSET (50, 100), 4 col = POINT (50, 100) PRINT col An it shoul show @ 2in -right white) as setting the color of the pi*el oesn.t change the te*t color) the &O1OR statement changes te*t color3! That shoul co#er P,(T) -ut we ha#e the a-ility to easily raw a circle on the screen too using the &IR&1( statement) it also eals with *+ an y+coor inates) li%e P,(T) -ut must also ha#e a ra ius 2how -ig it is from the center3) li%e this: CIRCLE (50, 100), 10 This ma%es a circle at position ?9) 899 an with a ra ius of 89 pi*els 2with the current te*t color as we on.t ha#e any color argument3) to ma%e the circle re 2color @3 we simply a the color argument:

CIRCLE (50, 100), 10, 4 That.s the circle) there are more arguments) -ut since this is a -eginners tutorial we on.t want to complicate things) if you are curious of the other arguments then you can clic% the lin% of the statement an rea a-out them there! ,o what a-out linesF <ell) the 1IN( statement can ma%e -oth lines an -o*es) I.ll show you how) first the line: LINE (50, 100)-(200, 150) This ma%es a line from position ?9) 899 to position I99) 8?9 2in the current te*t color3! Then we can ma%e it re 2color @3: LINE (50, 100)-(200, 150), 4 Now we can ma%e it a -o*: LINE (50, 100)-(200, 150), 4, B B stan s for Bo*) if you on.t want the color argument you must o li%e this!!! LINE (50, 100)-(200, 150),,B !!!to show that there is no color argument 2which ma%es it white if we ha#en.t change the te*t color3) you can.t put 9 there as 9 is -lac%! If we want a fille -o* then we woul simply o li%e this: LINE (50, 100)-(200, 150), 4, BF I ma e it re again too) since I li%e re !!!B$ stan s for Bo* Fille !

ABOUT ,UBs an $UN&TIONs:

NOTE: '(&1AR( ,UB or $UN&TION is ignore -y LB>@! It is use in L-asic to tell it the ,UB name an parameter types! '(&1AR( ,UB My,u-2num-er A, INT(G(R3 QB64 !esn"t nee t! #n!$ that in%!rmati!n an $ill ign!re &ECLA'E S(B !r F(NCTION statements) <e.ll start with the ,UBs:

A ,UB is a part of a program that you can &A11 an the program will /ump to the su- an follow the instructions that is containe within the su-! A su- has to en with (N' ,UB as the program has to %now when to /ump -ac% to where you were when you calle it! ,u-s must -e after all the other co e! =ou can o this for e*ampleA

CALL mysub

PRINT "This is after the call to the sub!"

SUB mysub PRINT "hello! This is within the sub!" END SUB

There is no limit in LB>@ for how large a ,UB may -e) you can write a entire program within a su-) -ut nothing will happen unless you &A11 it4 As you can see if you clic% the lin% to ,UB there is much more information to learn a-out su-s) -ut this will get you starte ! Now) let.s mo#e on to %*ncti!ns) a $UN&TION is li%e a su- with the only ifference that it can return a #alue 2an you can.t use &A11 to call it3! As with su-s) functions must also -e after the other co e! ,ince functions return a #alue we nee to gi#e that #alue to something) so we.ll start -y gi#ing it to a #aria-le! <e.ll call it .ret. which is short for .return.) we can.t use .return. since that is a reser#e wor 2see: R(TURN3!

ret = afunction

PRINT ret

FUNCTION afunction END FUNCTION

O%) so ret is 9 as we can see -y PRINTing it! This is -ecause we ha#en.t tol the function what to return 2an the efault is 9 if it is a numerical function or a empty string if it is a string function3! 1et.s ma%e it return something else) you o this -y assigning the function the #alue you want returne ) it might soun complicate -ut it isn.t! This is what you shoul o to gi#e the function a #alue to return:

ret = afunction

PRINT ret

FUNCTION afunction afunction = 5 END FUNCTION

,o when we run this co e ret is ? since the function returne ?! This isn.t #ery useful in its current state) we woul li%e to gi#e #alues to the function so it can return something -ase on the #alues we gi#e! That -rings us to arg*ments which can -e use to gi#e su-s an functions #alues to use within the su- or function! <hether it is a su- or a function arguments are enclose in paranteses with a comma -etween each argument! 1i%e thisA $UN&TION 2argument8) argumentI) argumentH3 (N' $UN&TION Any num-er of arguments nee e can -e use ! 5ere is a e*ample using arguments in a function:

ret = afunction(10, 20)

PRINT ret

FUNCTION afunction (argument1, argument2)

afunction = argument1 + argument2 END FUNCTION

It prints H9) as 89 ; I9 is H9! <e can gi#e the returne #alue irectly to PRINT if we want) as PRINT accepts returne #alues 2the function acts li%e a argument3! $or e*ampleA

PRINT afunction(10, 20)

FUNCTION afunction (argument1, argument2) afunction = argument1 + argument2 END FUNCTION

The same co e) -ut we on.t gi#e it to the #aria-le .ret. -ut irectly to PRINT!

This is a e*ample using arguments in a su-:

CALL mysub("Hello! This is within the sub!")

PRINT "This is after the call to the sub!"

SUB mysub (text$) PRINT text$ END SUB

=ou on.t actually nee &A11) /ust using the su- name will o) li%e thisA

mysub "Hello! This is within the sub!"

PRINT "This is after the call to the sub!"

SUB mysub (text$) PRINT text$ END SUB

The only ifference is that I remo#e &A11 which isn.t really nee e -ut can ma%e the co e more clear! Also) notice that when I remo#e &A11 I remo#e the paranteses as well) they are only nee e when using &A11 to call the su- an will cause a error if you use them without &A11! As you can see using arguments is rather easy) an su-s an functions can sa#e you ha#ing to o things o#er an o#er4 More information a-out su-s can -e foun here an more information a-out functions can -e foun here4

That mar%s the en of this tutorial4

Note: This tutorial has only scratche the surface of the statements an concepts use ! It is meant to get you on the right trac%) as such many other features of the statements can -e learne ) at your own pace -y following the lin% to the e*planations of the statements! If you are still unsure) stop -y this place from time to time as I will a more information for -eginners) an if you are unsure a-out something on.t hesitate to stop -y at the forums) we 2the &ommunity3 at :->@!net woul -e gla to help you4