QuickBASIC

What hackers pick instead

• HyperCardRecommended for rapid prototyping and an easy entry into programming, with HyperTalk scripting and a built-in database and UI builder. Critics note its security model was weak and its stacks were often rough.62recommend
• QBasicRecommended as a self-contained, friendly BASIC programming environment with excellent built-in help, and as a first language for learning. Critics mainly note that the code it produced was often poor.27recommend
• Folk ComputerOpen-source physical computing project that runs on everyday hardware; people praise its openness and visual approach, though many open questions remain and it is still early.6recommend
• Glamorous ToolkitPeople recommend it as a live, inspectable environment for exploring data and code, built on Pharo. The recurring caveat is that it becomes slow when it repeatedly re-interprets and re-renders data structures.6recommend
• DrRacketFree IDE for Racket with features people say other editors lack, and used for teaching programming. Critics find its interface clunky and unintuitive, and say it can slow programs down.5recommend

Every quote

The 6 most detailed of 9 comments. Each links to the original.

1. the help menu listed all the commands and the interpreter gave errors when I did something wrong

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “"This Is Not the Computer for You"”

2. The built in syntax help, which was incredible, and some example programs

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Dear Time Lords: Freeze Computers in 1993”

3. happily learning to code my own video games on Intel 486 PC in QuickBasic

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Amazon’s “digital pacifier” for toddlers”

4. I couldn't believe how much more functionality it opened up to me.

   Recommends · Nov 2025

5. I loved TUIs back in the '80s and '90s when convention was so consistent across applications

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Stop Making TUIs”

6. darkish blue background and grey text was just damn comfortable

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Light Mode InFFFFFFlation”