 ZBasic 4.7 (MS-DOS) | |
| Original author(s) | Andrew Gariepy Scott Terry David Overton Greg Branche Halbert Laing |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Simutek |
| Initial release | 1980; 45 years ago (1980) |
| Platform | MS-DOS,Apple II,Mac,CP/M,TRS-80 |
ZBasic is acompiler which was first released by Simutek (Tucson, Arizona) in 1980. The combined efforts of Andrew Gariepy, Scott Terry, David Overton, Greg Branche, and Halbert Laing led to versions forMS-DOS,Apple II,Mac,CP/M, andTRS-80 computers. ZBasic is a fast and efficientBASIC compiler with anintegrated development environment. It aims to be used as across-platform development system, where the same source code can be compiled to different platforms without any modifications.
In 1991, Harry Gish and 32 Bit Software Inc. ofDallas,Texas purchased the MS-DOS version. Nando Favaro expanded it to include16- and32-bit-specific machine code as well asVGA andVESA video. Zedcor concentrated on the Macintosh market and renamed itFutureBASIC.
ZBasic features device independent graphics: the same compiled code can work on different display resolutions and colors, and even in text mode. Original PC versions include graphical support up toEGA for MS-DOS.
ZBasic includes BCD (binary coded decimal) math with precision up to 54 digits.
INDEX$ is an array of variable length strings that can be easily sorted, searched, etc.