Other Links

These are links to other sites. Please E-mail me at AlStaff@aol.com if any of these links don't work or if you have suggestions for new links I should add.

Apple And Other Macintosh Links

• http://www.apple.com - Apple Computer's home page
• http://www.info.apple.com - Apple Software updates and Tech support
• http://www.apple.com/store/ - The Apple Store
• http://www.apple.com/developer/ - Info, tools, help for Macintosh programmers.
• http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/mac.html - Inside Macintosh
• http://www.macworld.com - Macworld magazine
• http://www.macaddict.com - MacAddict Magazine
• http://www.insidemacgames.com - Inside Mac Games Magazine

Macintosh BASIC Programming Languages

Visit my BASIC Programming Page for help with Mac BASIC programming.

The following BASIC environments are available for the Macintosh.

• Staz Software's FutureBASIC - FutureBASIC is now freeware. FutureBASIC creates Carbon based OS X applications. It has full access to the Mac toolbox. FutureBASIC is the programming environment that I personally use. FutureBASIC 5 has recently been released which includes a new compiler to compile for either PPC, Intel Macs, or Universal Binaries. Compiled applications run faster with the new compiler even when compiling for PPC.

• REAL Software's REAL Studio - (Previously named REALbasic) - A visual, object-oriented language environment. Builds powerful Macintosh applications. The Professional Edition can even compile Windows applications. If you like Microsoft's Visual Basic and wish there was a Macintosh version, then check out REAL Studio. The Personal Edition sells for $99. The Professional Edition costs $299. There's also an Enterprise Edition for $995. You can download a 30 day trial demo version from their web site.

• TNT Basic - This is now Opensource/Freeware. It seems to be a decent program especially now that it's free. I haven't really used it beyond taking a look at it, but I've seen some very nice games made with it and it seems to have good support.

• TrueBASIC - Mostly used in schools. Previous versions didn't have many GUI features, but they have since added commands for creating things such as windows, buttons, and scrolling lists to recent versions. This has never been updated for OS X and there is no longer a Mac download available. You have to either use a Windows version or be able to run MacOS Classic (OS9).
  

• Chipmunk BASIC - Freeware, old fashioned BASIC interpreter with line numbers, but with some graphics support added for the Mac. This is an interpreter only which means that anyone who wants to run a program that you write must have Chipmunk BASIC to run it. An OS X native version was recently released.

• OmikronBasic. This is the worst BASIC I've ever seen on the Mac. The editor doesn't even handle simple keystrokes correctly. For example, the DELETE key (backspace) deletes the character to the right if you are at the beginning of the line instead of moving the line up to the previous line. When you select a portion of text, then press the DELETE key, it only deletes one character and leaves the rest selected. Don't even bother with this one. I only put it here to be complete. The latest updates have been making it slightly better, but I still can't believe they are charging $170 for this. Technically it runs on OS X, but you'll think you are running it on a Commodore 64 from 1980. The interface is really that bad.
  

The following BASIC languages have been discontinued. Some may still available on the net, but they are all no longer supported or actively being updated as far as I can tell.

• SilverBASIC - Object-oriented style BASIC programming language. Originally planned to be shareware, it has been released as unsupported freeware due to development issues. The last release only creates 68k applications.

• METAL BASIC - METAL is a free BASIC metacompiler. METAL was a decent product considering that it was freeware, but it looks to be abandoned now. I haven't seen an update in several years. You can still find METAL BASIC and some source code written with it around the web.

• Squirrel Software's MacStandardBASIC - (MSB was originally owned by Zcurve and then sold to Squirrel Software) - Compiles either PPC code, 68K code, or Fat applications. It has a visual programming environment much like REALbasic, but not quite as nice. The Standard edition sold for only $29.95 and the Developer edition was $99 which included the C source for the MSB libraries. Their web site no longer exists. It does not run native on OS X or create OS X applications, so I doubt if there will ever be any future versions of Visual MacStandardBasic.

• Mainstay's VIP-BASIC - Visual Interactive Programming for BASIC. It can create 68k or PPC applications. This may have been a great Mac BASIC for extensive database programming, but it builds excessively large applications and is slow at many things, so it's not so good for games. This product is no longer for sale and is not being supported or updated. It does not run native in OS X or create OS X applications.

• Object BASIC - From Red Planet Software. Originally said to be an "Advanced Object Oriented BASIC language". This was originally going to be a commercial compiler made by Mars Saxman, but was later released as open source under the GNU license. Mars now works for REAL Software and is programming their REALbasic language, so his ObjectBASIC is no longer available from his site. I'm keeping the listing here because it was opensource, so it might be out there somewhere. If anyone has a copy or finds a copy on a web site somewhere please let me know.

• SC BASIC - Freeware compiler made by Crimson Compilers. This is a compiler only which means you must write the source code in a text editer such as SimpleText. The company who made this seems to be gone so you're on your own with this one. Parts of it do not work as advertised. It doesn't run native in OS X or create OS X applications.

• Crimson Compilers' BASIC Development System .Discontinued late 1997/early 1998? Company may have gone out of business. This was basically a commercial upgrade from their free SC BASIC compiler. I had a demo of this at one time, but lost it long ago. It seemed much better than SC BASIC.

• Microsoft QuickBASIC - Discontinued in 1995. Doesn't run correctly on most early PPC Macs. Will not run at all on most G3, G4, or G5 Macs.

Some Friends & Relatives

• Re - My sister.
• Bobby - My nephew.
• Kristen - My niece.
• Matt Beedle - FB programmer (runs Foxchange Software)
• Brian Heibert - Brian Heibert's web site. http://brianheibert.com.
• Terri Sheppard - Likes all things Mickey... and her boyfriend too.
• Michelle - Read about her life on a daily basis at her diary web site. Also likes all things Mickey. Her entire house is a Disney museum. If she and Terri put all of their things together, they would own more Disney stuff than Disney does.
• Sharyl - Has the sweetest voice. She can sing and write poetry. Moves all around the country except anywhere near me. Hmm....

Visitors to this web site since 6/19/03:

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