Microsoft QuickBasic was a commercially available programming language for MS-DOS. Qbasic, the Basic interpreter included with MS-DOS versions 5 and 6, was a cut-down version of QuickBasic. Most notably, it lacked the ability to compile programs into standalone executables.
QuickBasic was a commercially available basic compiler suitable for creating standalone executable files written in Basic, a programming language that most 1980s home computers included, or at least had available as an inexpensive add-on.
QuickBasic was derived from and highly compatible with the Basic programming language that was built into the IBM PC and that came as part of MS-DOS prior to version 5 in the form of GW-Basic.
QBasic was easier to use than the earlier Basic interpreters. But it also served as a gateway to Microsoft’s separate-sale Basic.
Advantages of Microsoft QuickBasic
QuickBasic admittedly was less powerful than languages like C or Pascal. But the ease of learning it provided a low barrier to entry. Someone who was interested in programming could mess around in Qbasic for free, since it came with DOS. If they ended up writing something useful and interesting and they wanted to distribute it, they could purchase QuickBasic for around $99 to gain the ability. Compiled programs had the advantage of being able to run straight from the command line as an exe file like commercial software. It also made the program unlistable and allowed the program to run faster.
If you have an interesting GW-Basic or Qbasic program that you would like to be able to run standalone, it frequently is possible to load the program into QuickBasic and compile it with little or no modification.
To do this, load the file into QuickBasic, then compile it. If the program comes across garbled when you load it into QuickBasic, you will need to convert the program into plain text format. To do this, exit QuickBasic and start GW-Basic, load the file using Basic’s LOAD command, then save the file with a slightly different name and append a comma and the letter a to the end of the command. Something like this:
SAVE “HELLO.BAS”,A
This will save the program as a plain text file. Then exit GW-Basic by typing the command SYSTEM, and then proceed to load your converted program into QuickBasic. Then, from QuickBasic’s RUN menu, select the option called Make EXE file.
QuickBasic’s legacy
Microsoft introduced QuickBasic in 1985 and sold it through 1994. In the mid 1990s, Microsoft shifted focus to Visual Basic, a Basic derivative that was object-oriented like C++. This made it more suitable for developing programs for Windows. But for a generation of tinkerers who acquired an MS-DOS computer in the late 80s and early 90s, QuickBasic often served as a first introduction to software development.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.