Getting Started: User Guide Overview

The following is a list of the chapters in the User Guide and a brief description of what will be in each one. All the fundamentals of PureBasic are covered here. It is currently not possible to describe every single library here although tutorials will eventually be written for most parts of the language. For the moment the User Guide contains this:

Getting started

The remainder of this chapter will focus on getting PureBasic up and running. The purchasing, installation and running of PureBasic will be covered along with some basics about the editor.

Your first PureBasic program

This chapter walks you through a simple program to verify that PureBasic is working and to familiarise yourself with the development environment. Some of the fundamental syntax of PureBasic will be covered here. This means it is worth reading so you know about the parts of the language which are used everywhere else throughout this User Guide.

Variables

Variables are pieces of data that can be changed while your program runs. Therefore they are important to know about early in your PureBasic career. An introduction to variables, how to create them and the built-in data types is included in this chapter.

Simple processing

Processing variables and performing simple calculations are one of the lowest levels of function of most software. The simple mathematical operations will be discussed here.

Interacting with the user

As the name of this chapter suggests, it is all about interacting with the user of your software. We will show you how to read data from the keyboard and display it on the screen, for more interesting programs.

Loops and decisions

This chapter is concerned with another of the most important parts of most software: repeated processing and deciding what parts of the software should be executed.

String manipulation

PureBasic has some built-in commands for working with strings (sequences of characters) which make handling and processing those a lot simpler. This chapter will show you the power that is available in this department of PureBasic.

Working with lots of data

Once your programs have the control structures in place for repetitive processing of data we will examine how best to store that data in order to make the processing simpler.

Advanced variable types

PureBasic has a powerful mechanism for creating advanced types of variables, allowing you to store different types of data together within a single variable. This chapter describes this topic and gives examples of using them.

Structuring code for re-usability

By now you will have covered a lot of the basics of PureBasic. In order to keep your code more manageable, reusable and cleaner we will introduce various ways to structure your code in a way that allows you to minimize the additional effort you need to put in. This leaves you free to concentrate on the more enjoyable task of writing software to fulfill its goals.

Working with files

Being able to handle files on disks is a big part of a lot of software. This chapter will show you how to work with files.

Debugging your programs

This chapter looks at the "art" of debugging your software. The use of PureBasic's built-in debugger is described along with specific examples of using it. Techniques for tracking down difficult to find problems are also examined.

Your first Windows program in PureBasic

Up until this point all of your code will be running from a console window. This chapter looks at using PureBasic to open a proper window for writing software with a full Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Creating a GUI

This chapter follows on from the previous one. It shows you how to add a full GUI to your Windows programs, allowing the user to interact with the program using the mouse.

Further reading

The final chapter of the User Guide, giving you some hints on what to do next and where to find more information.