Learn to Program with Small Basic: An Introduction to Programming with Games, Art, Science, and Math

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Majed Marji is a senior development engineer at General Motors and an adjunct faculty member at Wayne State University in Michigan. He is also the author of Learn to Program with Scratch (No Starch Press).

Ed Price is a senior program manager in engineering at Microsoft. He holds an MBA in technology management and has been a professor at Bellevue College. He runs customer feedback programs for Azure Development, Visual Studio, and Small Basic.

BRIEF CONTENTS

Foreword by Vijaye Raji

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Introducing Small Basic

Chapter 2: Getting Started

Chapter 3: Drawing Basics

Chapter 4: Using Variables

Chapter 5: Drawing Shapes with Turtle Graphics

Chapter 6: Getting User Input

Chapter 7: Empowering Programs with Math

Chapter 8: Making Decisions with If Statements

Chapter 9: Using Decisions to Make Games

Chapter 10: Solving Problems with Subroutines

Chapter 11: Event-Driven Programming

Chapter 12: Building Graphical User Interfaces

Chapter 13: Repeating For Loops

Chapter 14: Creating Conditional While Loops

Chapter 15: Grouping Data in One-Dimensional Arrays

Chapter 16: Storing Data with Associative Arrays

Chapter 17: Expanding to Higher-Dimension Arrays

Chapter 18: Advanced Text Magic

Chapter 19: Receiving File Input and Output

Where to Go from Here

Index

CONTENTS IN DETAIL

FOREWORD by Vijaye Raji

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Who Should Read This Book?

What’s in This Book?

Online Resources

A Note to the Reader

1

INTRODUCING SMALL BASIC

What Is a Computer?

What Is a Computer Program?

What Is Small Basic?

The Vision of Small Basic

The Basics of Small Basic

The Small Basic Language

The Small Basic Library

The Small Basic Development Environment

Installing Small Basic

The Small Basic IDE

Opening and Saving Your Work

Sharing Your Work and Importing Games

Copy and Paste; Undo and Redo

Running Your Program and Graduating

Writing and Running Your First Program

Objects and Methods

Naming Your Programs

Files Generated by Small Basic

Helping Hands: IntelliSense and Syntax Coloring

Drawing with Small Basic

Try It Out 1-1

Programming Challenges

2

GETTING STARTED

The Parts of a Program

Comments and Statements

Characters and Strings

Arguments and Methods

Try It Out 2-1

Exploring Other Features

Case Sensitivity

Sequential Execution

Displaying Numbers and Doing Math

Joining Strings

Try It Out 2-2

Object Properties

Setting and Changing Property Values

Working with Properties

Try It Out 2-3

Arithmetic Operators

Try It Out 2-4

Programming Errors

Syntax Errors

Logic Errors

Runtime Errors

Programming Challenges

3

DRAWING BASICS

The Graphics Coordinate System

Drawing Lines

Drawing Shapes

Triangles

Try It Out 3-1

Rectangles and Squares

Try It Out 3-2

Ellipses and Circles

Pen Size and Color

Pen Width and Shape Size

Try It Out 3-3

Drawing Text

Inserting Images

Programming Challenges

4

USING VARIABLES

What’s a Variable?

The Basics of Using Variables

Assigning Expressions to Variables

Passing Variables to Methods

Changing the Value of a Variable

Using Spaces for Readability

Try It Out 4-1

Rules for Naming Variables

Say What You Mean

Find the Right Length

Stick with Your Style

Let IntelliSense Work for You

Avoid Naming Variables After Methods and Objects

Try It Out 4-2

Simplifying Expressions

Try It Out 4-3

Using Variables to Solve Problems

Try It Out 4-4

Two Kinds of Data

Global Variables

Try It Out 4-5

Programming Challenges

5

DRAWING SHAPES WITH TURTLE GRAPHICS

Meet the Turtle

Moving the Turtle

Absolute Motion

Relative Motion

Coloring Your Steps

Controlling Your Speed

Try It Out 5-1

Introducing the For Loop

Try It Out 5-2

Drawing Regular Polygons

A Star Is Born

Try It Out 5-3

Creating Polygon Art Using Nested Loops

Try It Out 5-4

Endless Graphics

Try It Out 5-5

Programming Challenges

6

GETTING USER INPUT

Talking to the Computer

Your Number, Please?

Introducing Yourself to Your Computer

Writing Prompts for Input

A Moment of Silence, Please (Pause)

Working with User Input

Converting Fahrenheit to Celsius

Try It Out 6-1

Averaging Numbers

Reading Text

Try It Out 6-2

Programming Challenges

7

EMPOWERING PROGRAMS WITH MATH

Exponent Methods

SquareRoot() and Good Old Pythagoras

Powerful Powers

Try It Out 7-1

Rounding Methods

Traditional Rounding

Rounding to the Nearest Hundredth

Try It Out 7-2

Abs(), Min(), and Max() Methods

Try It Out 7-3

The Remainder() Method

Try It Out 7-4

Random Numbers

Try It Out 7-5

Trigonometric Methods

Try It Out 7-6

Programming Challenges

8

MAKING DECISIONS WITH IF STATEMENTS

The If Statement

Relational Operators

Try It Out 8-1

Complex If Conditions

Try It Out 8-2

Comparing Strings

The If/Else Statement

Try It Out 8-3

Nested If and If/Else Statements

Try It Out 8-4

The Goto Statement

Try It Out 8-5

Programming Challenges

9

USING DECISIONS TO MAKE GAMES

The If/ElseIf Ladder

Letter Grades

The Bug on the Ladder

Try It Out 9-1

Let’s Get Logical

Logical Operators in the Zoo

The And Operator

The Or Operator

The Cosmic Order of Evaluation

Try It Out 9-2

The Shapes Object

Try It Out 9-3

Create a Game: Guess My Coordinates

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Set Up the Game

Step 3: Hide the Star

Step 4: Let the User Guess

Try It Out 9-4

Programming Challenges

10

SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH SUBROUTINES

Why Use Subroutines?

Writing Subroutines

Try It Out 10-1

Subroutine Input and Output

Try It Out 10-2

Nesting Subroutines

Try It Out 10-3

Create a Dragon Game

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Write the SetUp() Subroutine

Step 3: Add a Bit of Chance

Step 4: Let the Player Know What’s Going On

Step 5: Get the Player in the Game with GetChoice()

Step 6: Process the Player’s Choice

Step 7: Add Motion with MoveKnight()

Step 8: Shoot Arrows with ShootArrow()

Step 9: Swing the Sword with StabDragon()

Step 10: Breathe Fire

Try It Out 10-4

Programming Challenges

11

EVENT-DRIVEN PROGRAMMING

GraphicsWindow Events

Create Patterns with the MouseDown Event

Try It Out 11-1

Fire Missiles with the KeyDown Event

Try It Out 11-2

Make a Typewriter Using the TextInput Event

Try It Out 11-3

Draw Pictures with the MouseMove Event

Try It Out 11-4

Useful Tips

Create a Gold Rush Game

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Move the Turtle

Step 3: Move the Bag of Gold

Step 4: Update the User’s Score

Try It Out 11-5

Programming Challenges

12

BUILDING GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES

Design a User Interface with the Controls Object

Step 1: The Design Phase

Step 2: Program Interactivity

Try It Out 12-1

Make a Colorful Drawing Program

Try It Out 12-2

Explore Circuits with Code

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Add the Main Code

Step 3: Toggle the Switch

Step 4: Respond to Changes

Step 5: Update the Program’s Interface

Try It Out 12-3

Program Your Own Image Viewer

Try It Out 12-4

Programming Challenges

13

REPEATING FOR LOOPS

The For Loop

Try It Out 13-1

Magical Moving Text

Try It Out 13-2

Adding ’em Up

Try It Out 13-3

Formatting Your Output

Try It Out 13-4

Drawing All Kinds of Lines

Try It Out 13-5

Changing the Step Size

Counting Down by Twos

Making a Fractional Step

Try It Out 13-6

Nested Loops

Tessellating for Fun

Try It Out 13-7

Multiple Nesting Levels

Try It Out 13-8

Programming Challenges

14

CREATING CONDITIONAL WHILE LOOPS

When to Use While Loops

Writing a While Loop

Try It Out 14-1

Validating Your Inputs

Try It Out 14-2

Infinite Loops

Try It Out 14-3

Create a Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Add the MouseDown Handler

Step 3: Switch the Images

Step 4: Announce the Winner

Try It Out 14-4

Programming Challenges

15

GROUPING DATA IN ONE-DIMENSIONAL ARRAYS

Getting Started with Indexed Arrays

Array Basics

Initializing Arrays

Try It Out 15-1

Filling Arrays with a For Loop

Constant Initialization

Random Initialization

Formula Initialization

User Initialization

Try It Out 15-2

Displaying Arrays

Try It Out 15-3

Processing Arrays

Finding the Sum

Finding the Maximum Element

Using String Values in Arrays

Try It Out 15-4

Saving Records

Using Indexed Arrays

Random Selection

A Magic 8 Ball

Try It Out 15-5

Create the Catch Apples Game

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Add the Apples

Step 3: Position the Apples

Step 4: Move the Apples

Step 5: Catch or Miss

Try It Out 15-6

Programming Challenges

16

STORING DATA WITH ASSOCIATIVE ARRAYS

Associative Arrays

Putting Associative Arrays to Use

Days in French

Try It Out 16-1

Storing Records

Try It Out 16-2

The Array Object

Is It an Array?

How Big Is an Array?

Does It Have a Particular Index?

Does It Have a Particular Value?

Give Me All the Indices

Try It Out 16-3

Your Computer the Poet

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Set Up the Graphical User Interface

Step 3: Respond to Button Clicks

Step 4: Write the Poem’s First Line

Step 5: Write the Poem’s Second and Third Lines

Try It Out 16-4

Programming Challenges

17

EXPANDING TO HIGHER-DIMENSION ARRAYS

Two-Dimensional Arrays

A Random Matrix

Try It Out 17-1

A Matrix with User Input

Animated Squares

Try It Out 17-2

Using String Indices

Try It Out 17-3

Going Interactive

Try It Out 17-4

Common Operations on Numerical 2D Arrays

Step 1: Add All Elements

Step 2: Find the Sum of Each Column

Try It Out 17-5

Arrays of Three or More Dimensions

Try It Out 17-6

Create a Treasure Map Game

Step 1: Open the Startup File

Step 2: Create the GUI Elements

Step 3: Start a New Game

Step 4: Create a New Treasure Map

Step 5: Draw Objects on the Map

Step 6: Show the Player’s Location

Step 7: Handle Button Clicks

Try It Out 17-7

Programming Challenges

18

ADVANCED TEXT MAGIC

The Text Object

Appending Strings and Getting Their Length

Try It Out 18-1

Taking Strings Apart: Substrings

Try It Out 18-2

Changing Case

Try It Out 18-3

Character Coding with Unicode

Try It Out 18-4

Practical Examples with Strings

Counting Special Characters

Try It Out 18-5

Palindrome Number Checker

Try It Out 18-6

Igpay Atinlay

Try It Out 18-7

Fix My Spelling

Try It Out 18-8

Unscramble

Try It Out 18-9

Rhyme Time: The House That Jack Built

Try It Out 18-10

Programming Challenges

19

RECEIVING FILE INPUT AND OUTPUT

The Case for Files

Naming Files

File Organization

The File Object

File I/O Methods

Try It Out 19-1

Try It Out 19-2

File Management

Practical Programs

The Poet

Math Wizard

Try It Out 19-3

Programming Challenges

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

INDEX

FOREWORD

Computer programming is magical. Programmers make computers come to life, and with the right tools, the possibilities are limitless. But even today’s skilled programmers started with something very small and simple.

I have often wondered what exactly makes programming exciting. The answer, I think, is how even tiny programs can make things happen instantly. When I was twelve, I was introduced to BASIC for the first time. The sheer simplicity of it struck me. It was inviting, not intimidating. And at the time, BASIC was everywhere—it had taken the new world of microcomputers by storm.

My first program worked flawlessly and gave me the instant gratification that kept me wanting to do more. This is what it looked like:

10 PRINT Hello

20 GOTO 10

These two lines of code just printed Hello again and again and again—but that’s all it took to get me hooked.

Fifteen years later, while working at Microsoft, I signed up to teach programming to a group of fifth graders. It was then I realized that as programming as a discipline had gotten more and more sophisticated, the simplicity of BASIC had been lost. There was no easy way for children to experience the same instant gratification that I experienced using BASIC.

When researching tools that could make learning computer science fun and welcoming, I stumbled across the article Why Johnny Can’t Code¹). The article, published by Salon in 2006, argues that today’s children are missing out on computer science because there aren’t easy-to-use languages like BASIC readily available.

This inspired me to create Small Basic, a simple and easy way for children to learn programming.

But it’s been far from an individual effort. Since launching Small Basic in 2011, the outpouring of support from the community has been incredible. The programming environment has extended in ways I couldn’t have imagined—sensing hands and faces with Kinect, talking to robots, and even integrating with enterprise databases. Small Basic has been translated into more than twenty languages, and at the time of this writing, more than 280,000 programs have been uploaded to http://www.smallbasic.com/ by children around the world.

The original vision of Small Basic is now being carried on by Ed Price and Michael Scherotter, along with the support of active community members like Nonki, LitDev, and many more.

Majed Marji is no stranger to teaching programming. Following his success with Learn to Program with Scratch, I was really excited to hear he was going to author this book along with Ed Price. I’m happy to see Learn to Program with Small Basic come alive and be available for everyone who wants to take their first step into programming. The book does a great job of introducing beginners to programming concepts while keeping the content fun and engaging.

Welcome to the magical world of programming. What do you want to create today?

Vijaye Raji

Creator of Small Basic

Director of Engineering, Facebook

Former Principal Software Architect, Microsoft

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book represents the culmination of hard work from many people to whom I owe my thanks. I’d like to begin by recognizing the editorial and production departments at No Starch who have done an outstanding job in bringing out this book to life. In particular, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the help of our editor, Hayley Baker, and our production editor, Laurel Chun, who worked hard to ensure that everything came together like it was supposed to.

I’d also like to thank the book’s technical editor, Vijaye Raji, for his thorough review and numerous constructive comments. Many thanks go to my coauthor, Ed Price, for making this book far better than it could have been without him.

And above all, my gratitude goes to my wife, Marina, and my two sons, Asad and Karam, who provided endless personal support. To them I owe an apology for the time this project has taken and my greatest thanks. The book is theirs too, and so is the spirit behind it. I dedicate this book to them as a sincere expression of appreciation and love.

Majed Marji

Firstly, I’d like to thank Majed for bringing me on this amazing journey with him. In college, I had a tough time learning C++, so with this book, Majed and I tried to write the programming learning experience that I wish I had had when I started programming.

I found Small Basic in 2012, while helping run Microsoft’s MSDN forums, and was excited to see that the community was being led by the teachers. Thank you to Vijaye for creating Small Basic and to the Small Basic community for their passion, which inspired me to write for the Small Basic blog and work on two new releases of Small Basic with Kinect and LEGO® MINDSTORMS® support.

Thanks to my wife, my four daughters, and my infant son, Asher, who was raised during this book. I’d also like to thank Tyler Ortman and Bill Pollock from No Starch Press for their support and for sticking with us.

I dedicate this book to the Small Basic team (Michael, Ray, Li Xin, François, Deva, and Liz) and Community Council (Nonki, Steve, Rick, Yan, and Liam) for keeping the dream going!

Ed Price

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever wondered how people create computer programs? Have you ever wanted to conjure up your own video game? Have you ever flipped through a programming book and been discouraged by its dull language and boring examples? If so, there may be a computer programmer lurking inside you, waiting to be unleashed. Welcome to Learn to Program with Small Basic!

Microsoft Small Basic is a free, text-based programming language designed for beginners. It provides a complete programming environment that helps you write, test, and fine-tune your creations. This book shows you how to install Small Basic and how to use it to do amazing things. We’ll show you that programming can be fun, rewarding, and—best of all—easy!

Who Should Read This Book?

You! This book introduces you to Small Basic in a fun, engaging, and interactive way. We offer an abundance of sample programs that you can run, explore, and tweak to make your own. Try every exercise and dig in to the extra online resources, review questions, and practice exercises. By the time you’re done with this book, you’ll be creating your own games!

If you’re feeling inspired, you can share your Small Basic creations on the Small Basic MSDN forum, where the Small Basic Community Council will be waiting to answer any questions and check out all your awesome work.

What’s in This Book?

Each chapter builds on the last one to help you hone your programming skills. We’ll start you with the basics, and by the end, you’ll be a total whiz!

• Chapter 1: Introducing Small Basic explains Small Basic’s features and gets you set up. Then you’ll create your first program.

• Chapter 2: Getting Started walks you through creating simple programs using Small Basic’s built-in text window.

• Chapter 3: Drawing Basics shows you how to write programs that draw shapes in the graphics window.

• Chapter 4: Using Variables explains how variables keep track of information. Variables play a huge role in programming, and you’ll use them throughout the book.

• Chapter 5: Drawing Shapes with Turtle Graphics teaches you how to command your own artistic turtle. You’ll draw intricate geometric shapes and patterns that would be tiresome to do by hand.

• Chapter 6: Getting User Input shows you how to bring your programs to life by making them interactive. You’ll write a program that can greet you by name.

• In Chapter 7: Empowering Programs with Math, you’ll use math to make games, like a dice game that uses a random number generator.

• Chapter 8: Making Decisions with If Statements shows you how to control the logic and flow of your programs. With If statements under your belt, you’ll be able to create even more powerful and exciting programs.

• In Chapter 9: Using Decisions to Make Games, you’ll build on your knowledge of If statements and use them to make complex games.

• In Chapter 10: Solving Problems with Subroutines, you’ll break down your code into simple sections that you use again and again. Then you’ll put all your code together to make a game where you battle a fire-breathing dragon!

• In Chapter 11: Event-Driven Programming, you’ll make interactive programs, such as a simple drawing program, that respond to user input.

• Chapter 12: Building Graphical User Interfaces covers how to create a full application with buttons, labels, and all the bells and whistles of a professional program. You’ll build on your simple drawing program and create buttons that let your user change the pen color.

• Chapter 13: Repeating For Loops will show you how to use For loops in your programs to avoid repeating code. You’ll learn how to automate boring tasks and draw a bunch of pictures in just a few lines of code.

• Chapter 14: Creating Conditional While Loops discusses more advanced conditional programming and ends with making a game of rock-paper-scissors you can play against the computer.

• Chapter 15: Grouping Data in One-Dimensional Arrays introduces arrays and how to store large amounts of data. Storing and manipulating data is another important aspect of programming, and you’ll take advantage of it to program a magic 8 ball.

• Chapter 16: Storing Data with Associative Arrays shows you how to store strings in descriptive arrays. You’ll transform your computer into a poet by writing a program that generates poems all on its own.

• Once you have a handle on arrays, in Chapter 17: Expanding to Higher-Dimension Arrays, you’ll take arrays up to two or more dimensions, which lets you put a lot more data in them. At the end you’ll create your own treasure-hunting game.

• Chapter 18: Advanced Text Magic teaches you how to handle and process text in your programs. Then you’ll use your knowledge to write a simple spell-check program.

• Chapter 19: Receiving File Input and Output helps you build bigger programs by teaching you how to handle files full of data. You’ll then use that knowledge to create a program featuring a math wizard.

Online Resources

Visit http://www.nostarch.com/smallbasic/ to download the extra book resources and to find updates. You’ll find these additional resources and review questions for teachers and students:

Book Programs and Solutions Download the finished programs, all the images you’ll need, some skeleton code for the Programming Challenges, and the solutions to the Programming Challenges and Try It Out exercises. This will save wear and tear on your typing fingers!

Additional Resources These are online articles that relate to the topics covered in this book. Many of these were written just to supplement the book!

Review Questions Test your knowledge (or your student’s knowledge).

Practice Exercises In addition to the Try It Out exercises and the Programming Challenges in the book, you can even find more exercises to practice. This is also great for teachers who want more options for assignments.

A Note to the Reader

When learning a new skill, there’s nothing more important than practice. Reading this book is only the first step. To become a great programmer, you must program! The more of the book’s resources you use, the more you learn. Don’t be afraid to experiment. No matter what buttons you press or what commands you give, you won’t hurt the computer. We promise.

With a little patience and dedication, you’ll soon amaze your friends with the wonderful things you’ll create. We want to empower you to make fun games and even to change the world!

1

INTRODUCING SMALL BASIC

Bill Gates once had a goal to get a computer into every home. Now, nearly every desk has a personal computer—so just about anyone can learn to code, too. In this book, you’ll learn to program with a language called Microsoft Small Basic.

We’ll start this chapter by explaining some general computing concepts and Small Basic itself. Then we’ll show you how to set up everything you need to use Small Basic and top it off with writing your first program!

What Is a Computer?

A computer is an electronic device that processes data according to a set of instructions—it’s that magical device in your pocket or on your desk or lap. Computers can perform calculations (like your math teacher) and compare numbers (like in fantasy football), and they can store, retrieve, and process data at high levels of speed and accuracy (like parents remembering a curfew).

A computer’s hardware is everything you can touch on your computer—inside the guts of every computer are hundreds of interconnected electronic pieces. If you want to imagine data inside your computer, picture a massive mall with hundreds of stores and tens of thousands of shoppers moving like clockwork between the stores.

But without something more, all that hardware couldn’t do anything useful. Every computer requires programs to tell it what to do—we call these instructions software. The people who can write software are called programmers—and you’re about to become one today.

What Is a Computer Program?

A computer program is a set of instructions given to a computer to perform a task (like a list of homework from your teacher). Your web browser, your favorite video games, word processors—these are all computer programs.

A program tells the computer what data to read (like numbers or text), where to read the data from (like from a user, file, or the Internet), how to process this data (it might search, sort, or calculate the data), what kind of information to produce (like paragraphs, reports, or graphs), where to store the produced output (like a disk, network, or database), and how to display the results (like through a monitor, printer, or plotter). Whoa, that’s a lot!

A computer program specifies every detail along the way. Computers communicate in machine language, which is a bunch of 1s and 0s. (Can you imagine talking 1s and 0s to your friends?) A long time ago, the first computer programs ever written were actually entered into to the computer by flipping some switches on the computer’s front panel (on for 1, off for 0). Would you want to flip switches all day? Imagine the errors!

Luckily, computer scientists invented programming languages, which are a lot easier to use than machine language. Today there are hundreds of programming languages, but Small Basic is the programming language you’ll learn in this book!

What Is Small Basic?

Small Basic is a free programming language that Microsoft created for anyone who wants to learn programming. You can write all kinds of applications with Small Basic, including games, simulations, animations, and more.

How did the language come about? It started with a programmer at Microsoft named Vijaye Raji. Raji had just read David Brin’s article, Why Johnny Can’t Code,¹ which describes how valuable it is to learn and teach coding in BASIC. In his article, Brin challenged Microsoft to make a new BASIC language that would help kids learn to code, and Raji accepted that challenge. Although BASIC was crucial to Microsoft’s success in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, there really wasn’t a great programming language suitable for beginners in 2007.

So Raji wondered if he could create a smaller version of BASIC using only the simplest parts of the original language. On October 23, 2008, he released Microsoft Small Basic v0.1, the first version of Small Basic.

The Vision of Small Basic

Small Basic’s four goals will help make your learning experience as awesome as possible:

• It’s Simple. Small Basic is a simple programming language with a helpful code Editor and a Help Area to make coding easy.

• It’s Fun. Small Basic lets you create games and other cool programs right away. It also lets you command a turtle to make art, and it’s fun to use!

• It’s Social. With Small Basic, you can publish your game to the Web on the Microsoft gallery, show it to your friends, and embed it on your blog or website. Your friends can import your program and collaborate with you to make it better.

• It’s Gradual. Once you learn the fundamentals of programming with Small Basic, it’s easy to export your code into the free Visual Studio Community and start a new adventure with Visual Basic .NET, a programming language that’s used by millions of professional programmers and an important next step in your learning journey.

We’ll cover everything you need to get started with Small Basic in this book!

The Basics of Small Basic

The three main parts of Small Basic are the language, the supporting library, and the programming environment, which is the interface you’ll use to write your own programs. Let’s explore each element now.

The Small Basic Language

To form a valid sentence in English, you need to follow its grammatical rules. In the same way, to write a valid Small Basic program, you must follow the grammatical rules of Small Basic, which are called syntax rules. Syntax includes punctuation, spelling, statement ordering, and so on. When you break these rules, Small Basic detects all the syntax errors in your program and reports them to you so you can fix them.

The Small Basic Library

The Small Basic library