You’ve been coding in *Basic for a while now, you feel you know it all and there’s nothing else to get from it. Well, that wouldn’t be a strange scenario, it happens to anyone who has been misled into the programming world to begin with!
The problem with the Basic languages is that they were conceived as a learning step and nothing else. Some of them try to stretch the bar, failing miserably in the process.
Now, don’t get me wrong I like them, But they’re not a world-class programming environment nor language nor compiler. Why else do you think that no one hires for *Basic?, because it practically doesn’t exist in the real world.
As a learning tool if it served it’s purpose then applaud and make yourself a favor: move on.
The next step: Choosing a real language.
Languages are like fruit, you bake an apple cake with apples and you make an orange mousse with oranges. You don’t go around faking the apple cake with another fruit because then, it wouldn’t be an apple cake to begin with. How is this example any good?, it’s the same as saying “choosing the right tool for the right job”. I just like to cook and present bad analogies.
Alas, your big project won’t go anywhere in it’s current state but porting towards a world-class language isn’t hard at all, once you’ve mastered the target language. This could take some time, specially with C++ (some say, you will never stop learning it – isn’t this amazing?, you can’t get bored with it!).
But, the real purpose for moving on is not only because no one will ever hire a “basic” programmer, It’s simply because you shouldn’t have to put up with any language limitations to write your dream code. And also, because the support for world-class languages is ten orders of magnitude better than your current “Official forums” and “Official IRC Channel” for your beloved Basic variant.
I always say, those “Neo Basic” languages are nothing but the retarded bastard child of a couple of bad programmers who couldn’t get their facts straight to begin with. Either that, or they needed some quick beer money. You choose. The truth is, you can learn how to program with better languages (I hear Python, C#, etc) and never, ever, have to put up with a Basic language at all. It’s not an ideal-world scenario, it’s the real world and you can do it right now, no one forces you to a lesser language but yourself.
Now, for prototyping, that’s another story; see… almost any language is good for prototyping!. Just don’t forget that those libraries presented on that *Basic language could well be available in a world-class language already. So unless you’re trying to escape a strict syntax or you already have a bunch of code templates done, don’t go for a lesser language.
So really, the only reason you’d try and code in a *Basic language is for nostalgia’s sake. Either that or you have a bad case of masochism. But I don’t blame you, I sometimes fire up some sort of Basic compiler just for fun, if any.
As I said – and I don’t think I’m the only one with this point of view – You should open your eyes and see what’s really out there, stop limiting yourself. Put that bucket of excuses in a hole and bury it, live again.
