BASIC vs. Lua vs. QBasic vs. Unlambda Comparison Chart

BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. Initially, BASIC concentrated on supporting straightforward mathematical work, with matrix arithmetic support from its initial implementation as a batch language, and character string functionality being added by 1965. The emergence of BASIC took place as part of a wider movement towards time-sharing systems. Some dialects of BASIC supported matrices and matrix operations, which can be used to solve sets of simultaneous linear algebraic equations. These dialects would directly support matrix operations such as assignment, addition, multiplication (of compatible matrix types), and evaluation of a determinant. BASIC declined in popularity in the 1990s, as more powerful microcomputers came to market and programming languages with advanced features (such as Pascal and C) became tenable on such computers.

QBasic as well as QuickBasic is an easy-to-learn programming language (and therefore ideal for beginners), based on DOS operating system, but also executable on Windows. QBasic is the slimmed-down version of QuickBasic. Compared to QuickBasic, QBasic is limited as it lacks a compiler. Therefore QBasic cannot be used to produce executables (.exe files). The source code (usual files with .bas extension) can only be executed immediately by the built-in QBasic interpreter. Furthermore, QuickBasic has a more extensive command set than QBasic. The best way to learn to program is to start with a lightweight programming language and a simple compiler. Qbasic (short: QB) has great advantages for pros and beginners that other compilers can't offer. Back then, when DOS was the most widely used operating system, QB IDE enjoyed great popularity. On current Windows systems, QBasic/QuickBASIC requires a DOS emulator, e.g. DOSBox.