JavaScript for BASIC Programmers

AppStudio's BASIC is modelled on Microsoft's Visual BASIC. It runs on other operating system by translating the BASIC to JavaScript, a language which is supported on all platforms.

JavaScript is a powerful and flexible programming language. It's the standard programming language of the web. It's also the subject of Atwood's Law: "Any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in JavaScript."

When we designed our Translator, we were pleased to discover that almost everything in BASIC had a direct equivalent in JavaScript. Each BASIC statement could be turned into a JavaScript statement which did the same thing. (The reverse is not true: there are many features in JavaScript which do not have an equivalent in BASIC.)

Variable Types

JavaScript variables are not explicitly typed: they get their types from whatever is assigned to them. It's very similar to BASIC's Variant type.

Variables are declared with the VAR statement:

BASIC	JavaScript
Dim a	var a; var b,c; var d = 100;

In JavaScript, you can declare multiple variables in one statement. You can also assign an initial value.