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.