System Requirements

Objective-Basic for Mac requires Mac OS X Leopard(10.5 or higher).

Now Universal!

FREE for non-commercial developers.

Full featured object oriented
modern BASIC programming language for Mac only


News: Objective-Basic is comming soon (2rd/3th quarter/2008)
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Learn more

Objective-Basic enables you develop full features modern GUI applications with well known BASIC syntax in a modern fashion. It comes with truly Objective-C object orientation and support for Objective-C and C. Objective-Basic combines the expressive  power of object-oriented languages like Objective-C with the familiarity and ease of use of BASIC.


You can develop anything on Mac with the newest technologies available on Mac and you can create very fast and small programs with it.

Objective-Basic's text editor is written in Cocoa.

It is designed to be easy and intuitive to start off.

Some of its features are support for syntax colouring for many different languages, functions list, support for text encodings, snippets, a toolbar, a status bar, split window, multi-document find and replace with regular expressions, full screen editing and running commands from within the IDE.

Objective-Basic's GUI editor is Interface Builder (developed by Apple).

Providing you with the newest Cocoa and Aqua user interface features.

You have got the same power as Objective-C developers. Be no more limited to your development environment. Be open and free to use all features of Mac OS X.

Technology you may use within Objective-Basic are Cocoa (any frameworks may be used), Carbon, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite and much more.


Cocoa is an object-oriented application environment designed specifically for developing Mac OS X-only native applications quickly and efficiently. The Cocoa frameworks include a complete set of classes, and for developers starting new Mac OS X-only projects, Cocoa provides the fastest way to full-featured, extensible, and maintainable applications. You can bring applications from UNIX and Windows to Mac OS X quickly by using Cocoa to build state-of-the-art Aqua user interfaces while retaining most existing core code. 

Apple recommends that all new applications written for Mac OS X use Cocoa.

Cocoa is a collection of software objects that implement almost all features common to Mac OS X applications. Programmers extend the Cocoa objects to provide application-specific features. The Cocoa objects are reused in every Cocoa application so that programmers can concentrate on adding unique value with each line of code rather than constantly reimplementing common features or struggling to access operating system services. Significant applications can be built with very little code.

Cocoa is distinguished from other object-oriented development environments in several ways: Cocoa is mature, consistent, and broad. Cocoa is extraordinarily extensible and flexible and dynamic.

Because you use Cocoa and the default compiler of Apple (gcc) through Objective-Basic the number of possible bugs, when you create your Mac application, is strongly reduzed nearly to zero. In fact, Objective-Basic is a mature tool, ready for production!

 

FREE for non-commercial applications

FREE but without support for non-commercial developers at home. You get the product for free and you must release products for FREE under the license of GPL v2 as published by the Free Software Foundation. Please include a "Made with Objective-Basic" statement in the about box.

If you would like to develop a commercial application or using Objective-Basic working at an organisation (e.g. university, school, public service), you must buy a valid license. Please see the order page for details.

 
Who are we?

People around the world join Objective-Basic (ObjB) - inspired by the idea to make software available for everybody: a programming language that is easy to use, and a development platform that is stable, reliable and available at a low price or for FREE for non-commercial applications.

We communicate by different means, most of them on the Internet. The following selection enables you to stay up-to-date, extend and explore your Objective-Basic experience, find new friends, and have fun in general.

Technology used

The core programming language is written in pure C++ and is based on KBasic Software Atelier (www.kbasic.com). The IDE is based on Cocoa and pure Objective-C.


Show your support

Where's the fun using Objective-Basic if others don't know? Buy a Objective-Basic Professional License today, and support us!


Join us!

The Objective-Basic community rests on dedicated volunteers to further improve our programming language and development platform in a number of different ways. Whatever your skills, there are lots of places to start contributing. Please write an email to us.

 

Feature Overview



Feature Detail



Objective-Basic is not only one programming language but also three.
Through one of the following command you can switch Objective-Basic into one mode.

If you want to use Objective-Basic
<b ... b> or just leave out it

If you want to use Objective-C code use
<c ... c> or [ ... ] e.g. [NSString init]

For pure C code use:
<c ... c> or @ before every commad e.g. @printf("hello")

It is possible to use all three modes in one of your program, e.g. one source file uses one mode and the source other file of your program use another mode. You can mix the languages in your file as well. Having Objective-Basic, Objective-C and C code in one source file!

The @ is needed in front of constanst, variables or function calls, if they are declared in a library written in C/Objective-C or in source parts, which are declared as C/Objective-C code. If you use Cocoa classes, functions or methods you do not need to write it in front of calling Cocoa methods.

If you declare variables etc in Objective-Basic code, you do not need to use @ as well.



Of course like other programming languages, Objective-Basic comes with commands for control flow, conversion/casts, error handling, events and library functions like for gui, input or output, maths and so on. See the examples for more.



But besides this you should be familiar with the following main parts:



If you start working on your first Objective-Basic program keep in mind that is very similar to Objective-C and Java. You have classes and interface elements, which work together. Events/actions in your interface are triggered by the user and you can react to them within your program. That's it.


Annotations

Type



In other words Objective-Basic is a full featured Object oriented modern BASIC language particularly designed for Mac OS X.

Code editing

Language features



Time is money as well

When creating commercial software, time is money. The longer it takes you to create an application, the longer it takes to get to market and turn a profit. Objective-Basic is a rapid application development environment that enables you to write, test and deploy software faster.



Professional Strength

Do not let the "BASIC" in Objective-Basic fool you! It is not a toy. It is a fully object-oriented language that supports exceptions, polymorphism and many other syntax features you can expect from a modern programming language.



Native look and feel

Objective-Basic creates a proper user interface using native Aqua controls. It helps you to create the best user interface with a top of the art GUI designer: Interface Builder developed by Apple.



Teaching and Learning

When you teach computer programming, you teach logical problem-solving skills students can apply wherever life takes them in the future. Using Objective-Basic, students learn programming by creating real programs like games.

Students simply use drag and drop to create the software interface, then add code snippets and see the results of their work, at once. As well, Objective-Basic's powerful features like auto-completion and extensive documentation make learning easy and fun, right from the beginning.



Prepare for the Future

Because Objective-Basic is an object-oriented language that uses a common syntax, your students' Objective-Basic skills can easily be applied to other languages like Objective-C, Java, VB.NET and C++ that they may find in the future.



Learn Step By Step

Objective-Basic is designed from the ground up to make it easy for anyone to learn to program. With Objective-Basic, simply drag and drop a button onto a window and run your first program in no time. As you need to do more, you learn more. It is a nice approach designed specifically to help you learn as you go.

The first step in programming with Objective-Basic is to design the user interface normally. With Objective-Basic, this is as simple as point-and-click. As you work on your interface, you make your program unique.



Learn Modern Programming

Learning Objective-Basic means you are learning modern, object-oriented programming. Once you learn Objective-Basic, learning other languages like Objective-C, VB6, Java or C++ is much easier. Objective-Basic can take you from learning the basics of programming to building high-quality software for you.



Lots of Help Included

Objective-Basic comes with a complete Programming manual as well as hundreds of examples to help you.



Make great use of your time

Objective-Basic is the right environment to use for fun programming projects. Programming as a hobby has never been easier or more fun. Objective-Basic is a visual development environment that makes it easy to make entertaining and useful software. Objective-Basic has tips and other features that help you along your way. Help is just a click a way. Why do not you create your own games? Create graphical games, strategy games, even action games. All you need is the right idea and Objective-Basic to get started.

 

Migrating to Cocoa
Leaving REALbasic

Objective-Basic provide you with a familiar syntax of BASIC. Additionally, many GUI components are familiar. And it is possible to develop GUI applications with BASIC syntax in a modern fashion. So it comes with Objective-C-like object orientation and backward support for Objective-C and C. Objective-Basic combines the expressive power of object-oriented languages like Objective-C or C++ with the familiarity and ease of use of BASIC.

Why Objective -Basic succeeds
Traditionally, BASIC languages have suffered from the attitude that they are slow and interpreted. But with Objective-Basic you have full access to all existing Objective-C, C, Carbon or Cocoa functionallity. Even it is compiled without runtime dependencies. So your programs are fast and very small.

Why is Objective-Basic a BASIC language alternative compiler for Mac OS X?
Objective-Basic is extremely well built, is a powerfull programming language and has a nice IDE. Additional, Objective-Basic can compile Mac OS X applications combined with Objective-C and C code. Objective-Basic language includes a visual designer (Interface Builder) to build GUI with all the major elements such as windows, menu and data aware controls, such as buttons, labels and frames, textboxes, radio buttons...

The only true official alternative to REALbasic: The project started in 2000 as an open source project... Objective-Basic is a professional development tool, cause this language offers all the elements to design and create professional products. Objective-Basic gives a single, easy-to-use API for writing GUI applications and the application will adopt the look and feel appropriate to native Mac OS X (in fact, you can use Cocoa natively). The language structure, the statements and functions are really simple to understand and the documentation is well written and complete. It comes with a very well done printable manual with more than 140 pages which describe in detail the great number of commands, statements and functions.

A powerful and fully featured Basic-like language: It is completely object-oriented and binary compiled. The syntax is very similar to Java and REALbasic. It is a fully object-oriented languages which uses inheritance and polymorphism. The IDE offers syntax highlighting of the source code, code completion and much more. The main characteristic of Objective-Basic is that it has been created to allow developers with BASIC experience to start programming for Mac OS X without having to learn deeply a new language.

Objective-Basic is a high level professional Basic for Mac OS X and its very good Basic language is constantly improved and updated.

Porting BASIC Applications to Mac OS X

See a comparision of REALBasic and Objective-Basic, the following short paragraphs show you where they are different in ways that is related to porting your project.

Objective-Basic produces fast programs as Objective-C or C does. In fact, it uses the same compiler as Objective-C. When using Objective-Basic you can use any existing Cocoa, Carbon, or C/C++, without difficulties.

Porting means learning and using new keywords and new ideas in general. Actually, why should you switch to Objective-Basic? After learning a new language (Objective-Basic), significantly changing your source code base would be involved, but it is worth it! Cocoa is a great development environment. When you use Objective-Basic you automatically use Cocoa the full featured modern framework of Mac OS X.

Do switch to Objective-Basic ! It gives you full Mac OS X support, no huge runtime, minimal system requirements.

At least, you should try Objective-Basic. You might find Objective-Basic right for you and a clear path to the future.

 

About us

KBasic Software is a small software company with headquarter in Frankfurt am Main / Germany. Its flagship products are KBasic Professional, the multi-platform BASIC programming language and environment and Objective-Basic for Mac.

KBasic Software was founded in 2003, although, Bernd Noetscher started the development of KBasic in 2000, which is the base for Objective-Basic's compiler and lanuage.

I know that it is crucial for my customers to have good tools for making good software. Therefore, I do not compromise our demands for superior design and technical quality when I develop my products. At KBasic Software, I continously work to improve and expand Objective-Basic to ensure that it always represents the state of the art in usability, look and feel, performance, and stability.

Objective-Basic has received international recognition from users, industry experts and media.

Address
Bernd Noetscher's KBasic Software
Boseweg 9
60529 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

email: info@objective-basic.com
sales related issues: sales@objective-basic.com

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