| ZBasic | |
|---|---|
 ZBasic 4.7 (MS-DOS) | |
| Original authors | Andrew Gariepy Scott Terry David Overton Greg Branche Halbert Laing |
| Developer | Simutek |
| Initial release | 1980; 45 years ago (1980) |
| Platform | MS-DOS,Apple II,Mac,CP/M,TRS-80 |
ZBasic is acompiler for the BASIC programming language, with anintegrated development environment, released by Simutek (ofTucson, 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. It can be used as across-platform development system, where the same source code can be compiled to different platforms without any modifications. In the late 1980s, ZBASIC was maintained and sold by Zedcor.[citation needed]
In 1991, Harry Gish and 32 Bit Software 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 Mac market and renamed itFutureBASIC.
ZBasic uses device independent graphics where the same compiled code can work on different display resolutions and colors–even in text mode. Original MS-DOS versions include graphical support up toEGA.
ZBasic supportsbinary coded decimal math with precision up to 54 digits.
INDEX$ is an array of variable length strings that can be easily sorted and searched.