New FreeBASIC beginners website

General discussion for topics related to the FreeBASIC project or its community.
Franktic
Posts: 18
Joined: Nov 24, 2016 2:35

New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Franktic »

I've been a long time reader and amazed at the depth of knowledge you folk demonstrate on a regular basis. Although I'm pretty confident around computers, I found starting with FreeBASIC a little confusing - maybe I should have started with the forum first! I have started a blog site http://www.frankticfreebasic.com to give beginners a very gentle introduction to freeBASIC, and programming in general. My first three posts show how to install the compiler and install and configure the editor. Future posts will go through writing some programs. I have a several older computer magazines from the 'golden age' of Basic programing - I remember programming Basic on the Apple II, the Atari 400, Commodore 64. I plan to convert some of those old programs to freeBASIC with the aim of having some fun and learning. Drop by my site and let me know what your think. Regards, Franktic
sancho2
Posts: 547
Joined: May 17, 2015 6:41

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by sancho2 »

Site looks good. Well done.
Franktic
Posts: 18
Joined: Nov 24, 2016 2:35

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Franktic »

Thanks Sancho. Hopefully it helps someone out there. I will have another post over the next few days to cover using the IDE to write the obligatory "Hello World" program and begin on a minimum set of instructions for useful programming.
MrSwiss
Posts: 3910
Joined: Jun 02, 2013 9:27
Location: Switzerland

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by MrSwiss »

Franktic wrote:Drop by my site and let me know what your think.
There seems to be a technical problem.

Due to the use of "blog-style" which is the opposite of what is needed for "tutorials display".
(the sorting is great for: blogging, but: useless for tutorials [the wrong way around])

Reasoning (how I'd expect it to display a tutorial):
  • 1) Introduction
    2) Installation (Compiler)
    3) Installation (IDE)
    4) First Steps ("Hello World" type of code)
    5) ...
    6) etc.
Maybe, this can be changed (don't know the WEB-template you are using), otherwise I'd
probably change it, to something that is able to do that ... (maybe a CMS).
Franktic
Posts: 18
Joined: Nov 24, 2016 2:35

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Franktic »

MrSwiss, thanks for dropping by. I agree with your approach of presenting the lessons in a 'tutorial' order but I don't see an easy way of doing that. This is the first blog I've written so it's a bit of a learning exercise for me and maybe I should have used a different blog engine. I am using Google's Blogger for my website and it has no easy way to reverse the post order. I've read that it can be done by javascript coding or mucking about with the post's creation dates but both workarounds have pitfalls. For the moment, readers can find the oldest post first and work their way forward. Thanks for the feedback.
MrSwiss
Posts: 3910
Joined: Jun 02, 2013 9:27
Location: Switzerland

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by MrSwiss »

Franktic wrote:For the moment, readers can find the oldest post first and work their way forward.
Well, exactly, finding the oldest post, seems to me, to be *problematic* at least.

My advice would be: don't use any BLOG-SW at all. I'll try to explain:
  • CMS (content management system) for WEB-SITE, usually containing a MODULE called a NEWS-FEED, which is a sort of BLOG.
  • as seen above: One MODULE amongst many other MODULES. (Photo-Gallerie, Forum, + endless more, depending on CMS, used.)
Therefore, a foregone conclusion: far more versatile than any BLOG-SW will ever be.

I'm aware of the fact, that the installation of such a system isn't easy for a beginner, but the later
reaped benefits, are just to large, to discount them straight away (at least in the long run).

Since you've just started, it is the best time to re-think and maybe revise your initial approach.
(The more content you're having, the more complex the move to a different system will be!)
Roe5685
Posts: 71
Joined: Nov 07, 2011 0:36
Location: NY

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Roe5685 »

I followed your instructions to set up the help files. There is NO UNBLOCK Line!! Hence all I have is the outline.
What to do?
Franktic
Posts: 18
Joined: Nov 24, 2016 2:35

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Franktic »

Roe5685 - the steps are as follows:
1. Right click the .chm file and and you should be presented with a menu that includes: Open| Open with...|
2. Left click (select) the last option in this menu: Properties
3. A window opens that has four tabs along the top. The first tab is 'General'. At the bottom right of the window you will find a checkbox with the option to Unblock. Click on the checkbox then click on OK.
4. The .chm file has now been Unblocked and can be read.
I tried this on a file I copied across this morning and it worked as described. Hopefully this works for you.

MrSwiss - I've rearranged the publish dates and now have them in correct order. I kept the first post publish date unchanged. Every subsequent post will have a publish date one less than the previous one. That seems to work. Thanks again for your feedback.
MrSwiss
Posts: 3910
Joined: Jun 02, 2013 9:27
Location: Switzerland

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by MrSwiss »

@Franktic,

1) there might be an addition needed on the "file unlocking" thingy:
If the "read only" checkbox is "ticked", that has to be removed/applied as a first step.
Otherwise "unlock" can't be applied.

2) Reconsider the Dir/Folder Name: "FB" ...
In time, the Compiler's Version *will* be increased to: 1.06.0
It is also an advantage, to have 1 more Level of depth, because one might want to have both Compilers:
- 32bit
- 64bit

Proposed DIR/Folder structure (ordering):
  • Since later on, there are possibly other *DEV-Tools* needed, too. (we'll start with "DEV-Tools")
  • C:\DEV-Tools\FreeBASIC\ (IDE, DeBugger, etc. below here, in their own Folders/Dir's)
  • C:\DEV-Tools\FreeBASIC\FB1050\ (no Compiler yet) just for \DOC \Projects etc. (common to specific Version)
  • C:\DEV-Tools\FreeBASIC\FB1050\32bit\ (current production Compiler)
  • C:\DEV-Tools\FreeBASIC\FB1050\64bit\ (current production Compiler)
    For those wanting to try out cutting edge developments:
  • C:\DEV-Tools\FreeBASIC\FB-DEV32\ (current daily Build: Version: 1.06.0, NO versioning here, since it will change)
  • C:\DEV-Tools\FreeBASIC\FB-DEV64\ (current daily Build: Version: 1.06.0, NO versioning here, since it will change)
The reasons for above ordering should be self-evident ...
The actual "naming" is of course up to you.
St_W
Posts: 1619
Joined: Feb 11, 2009 14:24
Location: Austria
Contact:

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by St_W »

A nice introduction to get started with FreeBasic application development, which should be easily understandable to everybody. I also think that your proposed folder structure is just fine.
Franktic
Posts: 18
Joined: Nov 24, 2016 2:35

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Franktic »

St_W, thanks for the feedback. I am trying to keep things as easy as possible yet not introduce poor practice shortcuts. If there are improvements to the content please let me know.

I have posted a continuation of last week's post that goes into writing functions. I will look at procedures and arrays shortly.
exjoburgr
Posts: 4
Joined: May 27, 2015 14:58
Location: USA

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by exjoburgr »

This looks good - wish it was around when I started with FreeBASIC!

Although I've been programming for many years I can still learn something, thank you.
BasicCoder2
Posts: 3906
Joined: Jan 01, 2009 7:03
Location: Australia

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by BasicCoder2 »

This is probably a good reference for beginners?
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/hans.leo.n ... ginner.pdf
I use the FIDE and use the Help menu button for details on different key words.
There is also a difference between the tutorial needs of an absolute beginner who needs to learn the main programming concepts compared with someone who can already write programs in another language.
When I first took on using FreeBASIC it was the best choice at the time for an old QBASIC programmer. I am not sure I would recommend it to a beginner as there are simple well supported languages now that can be used to learn the basic programming concepts and have a graphics and sound program up and running in no time and use objects (via the dot notation) from the very start. eg. Microsoft small basic
.
Tourist Trap
Posts: 2958
Joined: Jun 02, 2015 16:24

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Tourist Trap »

Franktic wrote:I've been a long time reader and amazed at the depth of knowledge you folk demonstrate on a regular basis.
Regards, Franktic
Hello, you can take example on this website for the organization. It's by the way a nice source about the c64 if you are interested on this topic also.
https://dustlayer.squarespace.com
Franktic
Posts: 18
Joined: Nov 24, 2016 2:35

Re: New FreeBASIC beginners website

Post by Franktic »

Thanks for the feedback. TT - The C64 website is definitely well thought out. I'm not sure I can do any of that with Blogger.
BC2 - FbEdit also has help; it loads the FB manual and allows searches. There are countless languages, some better than others for beginners. Scratch is incredibly easy to use and you start with graphics and sound immediately. MS Small Basic looks interesting but I haven't played with it yet. I've played with Euphoria and Rebol. The latter appears to be quite powerful but does not appear to have any support.
I found FreeBASIC easy to learn, at a rudimentary level admittedly, and powerful enough to satisfy my needs. What I didn't find was a clear guide on how to get started. I read the reference you link to and found that it was not written for beginners at all. The guide would be great if you were a QBASIC programming moving to FreeBASIC. A raw beginner would have likely not get far: Chapter 1 lists the differences between FB and QBASIC; Chapter 2 gives details about numeric data types. By the time you get to Chapter 4 and you are shown the C Runtime Library you either proven you are an exceptional student or you have given up.
A better introduction is: http://notthecheatr.phatcode.net/fb_n00 ... 0b-01.html
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