Getting Started: Installing and running PureBasic

Installing PureBasic

If you downloaded PureBasic you will need to extract it first using commonly available archive programs for your platform (gzip, lha or WinZip). Once you have PureBasic files simply copy the PureBasic folder to wherever you want. There are no additional special requirements to install it, although if you are using the Linux version you will also need to make sure you have installed some commonly available tools for that platform (GCC, gtk and SDL).

If you have already installed PureBasic and simply want to install an update then you must download the update from the PureBasic website (http://www.purebasic.com) and extract the contents of the update as it will usually be in the form of an archive. You can then run the "UpdateTool" to update your version of PureBasic. You will need to tell the "UpdateTool" where the PureBasic files are and what language you want to use.

If you ever need to uninstall PureBasic you can simply delete the folder as no extra data is written to "special" places on your system (for example, the registry in Windows).

Running PureBasic

The PureBasic iconRunning PureBasic is very simple. Using the usual method for your particular operating system (such as double clicking on the icon), run the PureBasic Editor program. The icon for the editor will look similar to the one shown on the right.

This is the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which comes with PureBasic and will allow you to enter, edit and run programs and fully control the compiler in a graphical way. If you are feeling more adventurous, the PureBasic compiler is really an external program from the editor so you can use any editor of your own choice. However, that is beyond the scope of this User Guide - we recommend you stick with the PureBasic Editor for now. When you start the editor you will see a window which looks something like this:

The PureBasic editor