<p>FutureBASIC 4 Release 4 is shipping! You may be asking yourself: <a href="release4.php">What is new in Release 4?</a></p>
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<h1>NEWS -- January 1, 2008</h1>
<p>FutureBASIC is now freeware! <a href="http://www.4toc.com/fb4/">Download</a></p>
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<h1>What is FutureBASIC?</h1>
<p>When you came to this page, you probably had many questions, like: Is this one of those OOP languages? Is it OS X compatible? Do I have to run OS X? And what really happened to Lemly-Gilbert that day when he was experimenting with the milking machine down in the barn?</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Editor: The editor is where code is typed. It's like a word processor built specifically for programmers. Only this word processor is so cool that one reviewer called it the "model of the genre." 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... Heck, if the remote control was this easy to find, you wouldn't have to move your couch cushions all of the time.</p>
<p>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. It's fast. Way fast. On my Dual 1 gig G4, it will zip through 850,000 characters (850 pages) of source code per second. But the thing that will really paint racing stripes on the side of your CPU is the tight, fast code that the compiler generates. Your programs will run with amazing speed and they will take up just a squenchy little bit of disk space.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>There is a built-in profiler that will tell you what functions are eating up the most time in your application. Use it to optimize the project. This is real optimization too - no blind guess work, no sacrificing of chickens. You can also add your own xml scripts. It's an easy way to add frequently used items to the editor. And the help system is second to none. Select a word and look it up in our own local help pages (for FutureBASIC reserved words) or automatically search Apple's web site (for toolbox names, constant names and so on).</p>
<p>If it's done on a Mac, you can do it with FutureBASIC. If you want to know what it's like to feel the pulse of your computer, you'll only learn that with FutureBASIC. If you have great ideas, you can let your ideas grow with Future BASIC.</p>
