Introducing Liquid BASIC 2025

Liquid BASIC is a simple and powerful BASIC implementation for Windows. It's a great way to learn coding and logic, as well as develop quick and simple apps and tools, create retro-inspired games and demos, and much more!

Almost every home computer in the 1980's shipped with a version of BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). BASIC is easy to learn and interactive. Commands can run as soon as they are entered, encouraging people to experiment and try new ideas. It's a great introduction to the world of coding.

Liquid BASIC stays true to the BASIC language, but includes many improved features to bring the language into the modern age. And unlike traditional BASIC, which was interpreted, Liquid BASIC is compiled into a bytecode that runs on a custom virtual machine. This approach allows for far faster program execution, and allows for more language features, better error checking, and better multitasking.

The included Artificial Intelligence integration makes it simple and easy to ask Liquid BASIC questions and create content (even pictures!). It can even write BASIC code for you! (An OpenAI API Key from openai.com is required to use the Artificial Intelligence features.)

The graphics engine makes 2D graphics easy. Various screen modes are available to quickly and easily render to both tilemaps and bitmaps. Movable sprites allow for animation, transparency, parallax scrolling, and other effects. Sprites are constructed from either tilemaps or bitmaps and can be any size. There can be up to 256 on-screen at once. Each sprite can be independently moved, scaled, rotated, tinted, mirrored, and flipped. Sprites also have built-in collision detection to detect when two or more collide, making games and interactive graphics far easier to program.

The sound engine can load digital audio clips in several different file formats, and play up to 256 clips at once. It can even speak language in two different voices.

Taken together, Liquid BASIC is a fun, powerful, and simple way to start coding and experimenting. And it's free for personal use! (Though donations are appreciated!)

• Familiar BASIC syntax
• Automatic code formatting and renumbering
• Labels for branching
• Structured programming (with block IF, SELECT, WHILE, DO, FOR loops)
• Built-in variable types: byte, integer, float, double, and string
• Standard Library (comprehensive set of built-in functions)
• User-defined types
• Arrays (fill, find, insert, delete, reverse, shuffle, and sort)
• Matrices (invert, transpose, addition, subtraction, multiplication)
• User-defined functions
• User-defined fibers (coroutines)
• Error handling
• Timers
• Files
• Databases
• Artificial Intelligence
• Graphics (bitmaps, fonts, tilesets, tilemaps, shaders, sprites)
• Music and sound effects
• Speech synthesis
• ...and much more!!

•  Windows 10 (64-bit) or later
• .NET 8.0
• OpenGL 3.3