Basic4GL (B4GL; from Basic for openGL) is an interpreted, open source version of the BASIC programming language which features support for 3D computer graphics using OpenGL. While being interpreted, it is also able to compile programs on top of the virtual machine to produce standalone executable programs. It uses a syntax similar to traditional dialects of BASIC and features an IDE and a very thorough and comprehensive debugger. Basic4GL is not designed to compete with programming languages such as C++; it was intended to replace older languages such as QBasic or GFA BASIC. Basic4GL features the usual commands that you would expect to find in a version of BASIC such as... PRINT INPUT GOSUB It also includes a few features that C programmers will be familiar with, such as support for pointers, structures and most importantly the entire OpenGL v1.1 API. History Tom Mulgrew created Basic4GL from a desire to be able to run OpenGL functions easily and quickly, without all of the setup normally required in a language such as c++ and be more stable. He built a virtual machine similar to one used at his workplace. It started simply, with few OpenGL functions and minimal other functionality. The first version was relatively popular. The first version was named GLBasic, which also happens to be a commercial programming language. The issue was civilly resolved, and Mulgrew's project renamed Basic4GL. Mulgrew set himself the goal to expand Basic4GL to the point that it could load and display and MD2 model. Versions 2.3.0 - Added networking capability 2.3.5 - Support for code compilation at runtime 2.4.2 - Changed sound system from OpenAL to Audiere 2.4.3 - Support for Plugin DLLs added 2.5.0 - Support for functions added 2.5.8 - Support for hexadecimal numbers Platform Basic4GL was designed to run on the Windows operating system, but versions are being developed for Linux and Mac OS. Basic4GL for Linux Currently Basic4GL is being ported over to Linux. The major difference between Basic4GL for Windows and the new Linux version is that it uses the SDL library rather than Windows specific libraries to initialize an OpenGL enabled window. There is also a Linux-based project to create an extended version of Basic4GL that wraps more closely to the SDL library known as Basic4SDL. Basic4GL for Mac A version for Mac OS is currently under development. No working versions have been released. Example code Dim A