<s>
FutureBasic	B-Language
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
BASIC	O
compiler	B-Language
for	O
Apple	O
Inc.	O
'	O
s	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
consists	O
of	O
an	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environment	I-Application
(	O
IDE	O
)	O
,	O
editor	O
,	O
project	O
manager	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
for	O
both	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
and	O
Intel	O
microprocessors	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
1	O
January	O
2008	O
,	O
the	O
package	O
has	O
contained	O
a	O
translator	O
,	O
FBtoC	O
,	O
that	O
converts	O
the	O
FutureBasic	B-Language
syntax	O
to	O
C	B-Language
and	O
automatically	O
calls	O
Apple	O
's	O
GNU	B-Application
Compiler	I-Application
Collection	I-Application
(	O
gcc	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
knowledge	O
of	O
C	B-Language
is	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FutureBasic	B-Language
supports	O
access	O
to	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
library	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FB	O
began	O
life	O
in	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
as	O
ZBasic	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Andrew	O
Gariepy	O
and	O
envisioned	O
as	O
a	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
development	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
long	O
,	O
the	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
aspects	O
were	O
dropped	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
focusing	O
on	O
Macintosh	B-Device
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZBasic	B-Application
acquired	O
a	O
devoted	O
following	O
of	O
developers	O
who	O
praised	O
its	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
and	O
the	O
tight	O
,	O
fast	O
code	O
produced	O
by	O
the	O
compiler	B-Language
(	O
a	O
legendary	O
labor	O
involving	O
extensive	O
use	O
of	O
hand-built	O
68K	O
assembly	O
language	O
code	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1992	O
and	O
as	O
the	O
next	O
major	O
step	O
after	O
ZBasic	B-Application
version	O
5	O
,	O
Zedcor	O
Inc.	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
of	O
the	O
Gariepy	O
brothers	O
Andy	O
,	O
Mike	O
,	O
Peter	O
and	O
friends	O
based	O
in	O
Tucson	O
,	O
Arizona	O
presented	O
FutureBASIC	B-Language
(	O
later	O
called	O
FBI	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1995	O
Staz	O
Software	O
,	O
led	O
by	O
Chris	O
Stasny	O
,	O
acquired	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
market	O
FutureBASIC	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
transition	O
from	O
68k	O
to	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
central	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
unit	I-General_Concept
(	O
CPU	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
lengthy	O
process	O
that	O
involved	O
a	O
complete	O
rewrite	O
of	O
the	O
editor	O
by	O
Chris	O
Stasny	O
and	O
an	O
adaptation	O
of	O
the	O
compiler	B-Language
by	O
Andy	O
Gariepy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
result	O
of	O
their	O
efforts	O
,	O
a	O
dramatically	O
enhanced	O
IDE	O
called	O
FB^3	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
September	O
1999	O
,	O
featuring	O
among	O
many	O
other	O
things	O
a	O
separate	O
compiler	B-Language
application	O
,	O
various	O
open	O
,	O
hence	O
modifiable	O
runtimes	O
,	O
inline	O
PPC	O
assembly	O
,	O
a	O
simplified	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Toolbox	I-Device
Application	B-General_Concept
Programming	I-General_Concept
Interface	I-General_Concept
(	O
API	O
)	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
an	O
expanded	O
library	O
of	O
built-in	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Major	O
update	O
releases	O
introduced	O
a	O
full-featured	O
Appearance	O
Compliant	O
runtime	O
written	O
by	O
Robert	O
Purves	O
and	O
the	O
Carbon	B-Operating_System
compliance	O
of	O
generated	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
completely	O
carbonized	O
to	O
run	O
natively	O
on	O
the	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
FutureBASIC	B-Language
Integrated	B-Application
Development	I-Application
Environment	I-Application
(	O
FB	O
IDE	O
)	O
was	O
called	O
FB4	O
and	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
July	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
in	O
Diamondhead	O
,	O
Mississippi	O
,	O
Staz	O
Software	O
was	O
severely	O
hit	O
by	O
Hurricane	O
Katrina	O
in	O
August	O
2005	O
and	O
development	O
pace	O
was	O
slowed	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
major	O
effort	O
was	O
required	O
to	O
keep	O
the	O
IDE	O
up	O
to	O
date	O
with	O
Apple	O
's	O
evolution	O
towards	O
the	O
Intel-based	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2007	O
,	O
an	O
independent	O
team	O
of	O
volunteer	O
FB	O
programmers	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
FBtoC	O
team	O
,	O
developed	O
a	O
translator	O
(	O
FBtoC	O
)	O
that	O
allows	O
FB	O
to	O
generate	O
applications	O
as	O
Universal	B-Operating_System
Binaries	I-Operating_System
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
GCC	B-Application
compiler	I-Application
which	O
is	O
included	O
with	O
each	O
copy	O
of	O
Apple	O
's	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
system	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
1	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
Staz	O
Software	O
announced	O
that	O
FB	O
would	O
henceforth	O
be	O
freeware	B-License
and	O
FB4	O
with	O
FBtoC	O
1.0	O
was	O
made	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	O
requirements	O
to	O
create	O
universal	B-Operating_System
binaries	I-Operating_System
with	O
FBtoC	O
:	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
v10.4	O
or	O
higher	O
,	O
GCC	B-Application
4.0	O
or	O
higher	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Cross-development	O
SDKs	O
must	O
be	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FutureBasic	B-Language
syntax	O
supports	O
procedural	B-Application
,	O
modular	O
styles	O
of	O
programming	O
using	O
function	O
calls	O
and	O
local	O
variables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LOCAL	O
FNs	O
in	O
FutureBasic	B-Language
)	O
are	O
much	O
like	O
C	B-Language
or	O
Pascal	B-Application
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
called	O
automatically	O
by	O
FutureBasic	B-Language
built-in	O
event	O
vectors	O
(	O
ON	O
EVENT	O
FN	O
statement	O
)	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
Specific	O
structures	O
(	O
ENTERPROC/EXITPROC	O
)	O
are	O
used	O
for	O
callback	O
procedures	O
when	O
calling	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Toolbox	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Legacy	O
BASIC	O
language	O
commands	O
such	O
as	O
:	O
GOTO	B-Application
and	O
GOSUB/RETURN	O
with	O
line	O
numbers	O
and	O
labels	O
-	O
while	O
discouraged	O
-	O
are	O
supported	O
for	O
educational	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FutureBasic	B-Language
supports	O
complex	O
data	O
types	O
include	O
single	O
and	O
double	O
precision	O
floating	B-Algorithm
points	I-Algorithm
,	O
double	O
length	O
integers	O
,	O
arrays	O
,	O
strings	O
and	O
records	O
(	O
similar	O
to	O
struct	O
in	O
C	B-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Commenting	O
in	O
the	O
code	O
is	O
substantial	O
allowing	O
REMark	O
statements	O
,	O
and	O
C	B-Language
style	O
/	O
*	O
remark	O
*	O
/	O
statements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Characters	O
in	O
Pascal	B-Application
strings	O
are	O
accessible	O
much	O
like	O
items	O
of	O
an	O
array	O
:	O
a$[0]	O
(	O
length	O
byte	O
)	O
;	O
a$[1]	O
(	O
first	O
character	O
in	O
string	O
a$	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
FutureBasic	B-Language
language	O
still	O
supports	O
old	O
style	O
variable	O
typing	O
with	O
suffix	O
identifiers	O
,	O
it	O
provides	O
a	O
modern	O
alternative	O
with	O
the	O
as	O
clause	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
AppleScript	B-Application
scripts	O
can	O
be	O
assembled	O
with	O
FutureBasic	B-Language
statements	O
then	O
executed	O
on	O
the	O
fly	O
by	O
a	O
running	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FutureBasic	B-Language
allows	O
the	O
triggering	O
of	O
UNIX	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FB	O
allows	O
inline	O
C	B-Language
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
a	O
Macintosh-only	O
compiler	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
FutureBasic	B-Language
supports	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Intel	O
architectures	O
but	O
does	O
not	O
compile	B-Language
on	O
or	O
for	O
any	O
version	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
