Excellent Free Tutorials to Learn BASIC

Last Updated on September 20, 2024

BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use. In 1964, John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz designed the original BASIC language at Dartmouth College. They wanted to enable students in fields other than science and mathematics to use computers. At the time, nearly all use of computers required writing custom software, which was something only scientists and mathematicians tended to learn.

The advent of the personal computer was crucial to the success of BASIC. The language was designed for hobbyists, and as personal computers became more accessible to this audience, books of BASIC programs and BASIC games surged in popularity.

BASIC is generally not regarded as the easiest way to take the first steps in learning the art of programming. But it does not hinder beginners from learning how to program, or teach them bad habits. And it’s the highest low-level language. Even today, there remains value in learning BASIC.

Here’s our recommended tutorials to learn BASIC. If you’re looking for free BASIC programming books, check here.

1. FB n00b tutorials

FreeBasic is a 32-bit compiler for Windows, DOS, or Linux that is pretty much C-compatible and has many libraries ported to it. These 9 tutorials offer a useful way to learn this dialect of BASIC. It’s targeted at absolute beginners.

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2. Let’s Build a Roguelike by Richard D. Clark

Let’s Build a Roguelike is a step-by-step tutorial in ebook format on creating a roguelike game from conception to finished product. The tutorial covers all the aspects of the game, from creating the title page, dungeon building, inventory items, monster ai, combat, file saving and creating a morgue file.

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3. Programmer’s Guide for FreeBASIC

A series of tutorials to help you master FreeBASIC.

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4. Introduction to True BASIC by Harvey Gould

This tutorial is based on the text, Introduction to Computer Simulation Methods, by Harvey Gould and Jan Tobochnik. The features of True BASIC which are common to other procedural languages are emphasized.

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5. FreeBASIC Community Tutorials by Various

Here’s a wide variety of tutorials submitted by the FreeBASIC community.

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6. Programming in BASIC: the absolute beginner tutorial by Yuri Yakimenko

20 lessons to teach your 12-year old how to start programming – and give them a start with some important programming techniques, even if they do not have anyone around to provide tutoring.

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All tutorials in this series: