What is FutureBASIC II?

FB is primarily composed of two pieces of software and is supported by thousands of files. The two pieces that do most of the work are the Editor and the Compiler.

Editor: The editor is where code is typed. It's like a word processor built specifically for programmers. It automatically indents, bold-faces, changes the color, and otherwise enhances your text according to parameters that you establish. The Editor is easy to navigate. If you want to find a function that you have used, command-double-click the reference to it and you will instantly be transported to its definition. That is also true of toolbox and constant definitions, record declarations, subroutines.

Compiler: The Compiler is a less visible, but no less important part of the package. It takes the code typed into the Editor and converts it into machine language. And it does an excellent job. FB has a one-pass compiler; meaning that it handles the entire process without having to go over and over your code. 

There are other pieces and parts. The project manager is a tool/window/Girl Friday that handles the organization of all files in a project. Use it to group and arrange everything so that your project remains manageable. Drag & drop files from the Finder when you want to add them. Click the debug column to turn on the source lever debugger in specific files.

There is a built-in profiler that will tell you what functions are using up the most time in your application. Use it to optimize the project. 

Staz Software released FB as freeware on 1st January 2008, and made FB II freely available for 68K Macs on 19th April 2008.

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FutureBASIC II was originally developed by Staz as a modern structured and compiled BASIC with points of similarity to Microsoft's Visual BASIC by Zedcor. (Staz also published the FutureBASIC application generator PG:Pro.) The FutureBASIC II package constitutes a complete Macintosh programming environment that's significantly easier to use (and deploy — you can run it on a Classic if necessary) than the professional packages from Symantec and Metrowerks.

Consider, for example, that this product ships on six disks, rather than on a CD-ROM, and takes about 9MB of hard drive space, rather than the 80MB or so the dominant C++ systems occupy. You even get real — and clearly written — documentation, rather than the option of ordering it separately. Another plus is a large assortment of sample and tutorial files that are documented with the sincere aim of getting you started...

If you already use FutureBASIC, this package contains two big attractions: the integrated application framework, which lets you generate a simple application in an afternoon, and a new Staz-generated debugger. The technical downside to this version is that, alas, there still isn’t a Power Mac-native FutureBASIC compiler, and unexpected slowdowns in programs with long, scientific floating-point numbers still occur. If you're clever, you can get around this last problem with judicious use of the included in-line assembler, but that’s asking a lot from hobbyists and part-time coders.

Probably the last programming package that allowed FutureBASIC’s kind of easy entry to the world of coding was Think Pascal, which is now a module in Symantec’s C++. That means that if you want to understand how a Mac really works, and perhaps want to create a little app to amaze your friends (the Mac software areas on services such as America Online show hundreds of examples), your options are to spend a few months learning proper C++ programming with the Mac Toolbox, or spend a few nights studying the smoothly integrated Program Generator (formerly PG:Pro) and experiment with easy text-editor, graphics, and database example programs. If you want a job as a full-time professional programmer, you'll have to bite the C++ bullet someday, but you can certainly learn a lot about programming in general and the Mac in particular with this friendly package. As an extra for beginners, the free phone help is superb.

The Last Word FutureBASIC is an attractive environment for hobbyists and for developers aiming at simple commercial apps. For programming as educational fun, it has no competition.

Seiter, Charles. (July 1996). FutureBASIC II. Macworld. (pg. 81).

Download FutureBASIC II for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

Compatibility notes

Tested and working on System 7.5.3 with 68040

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver