Run BASIC is a web application

Web application

A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...

 server

Application server

An application server is a software framework that provides an environment in which applications can run, no matter what the applications are or what they do...

, based on the Liberty BASIC

Liberty BASIC

Liberty BASIC is a commercial computer programming language and integrated development environment . It has an interpreter developed in Smalltalk, which recognizes its own dialect of the BASIC programming language...

 version of the BASIC

BASIC

BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....

 programming language

Programming language

A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....

. Run BASIC is developed by Shoptalk Systems; v1.01 was released in November 2008.

Programming model

Run BASIC uses a desktop programming model. Web pages are not kept in individual files or dealt with as templates but are generated dynamically as determined by the programmer. It can be programmed in two styles. With procedural programming

Procedural programming

Procedural programming can sometimes be used as a synonym for imperative programming , but can also refer to a programming paradigm, derived from structured programming, based upon the concept of the procedure call...

, applications are made using subroutines and functions. Application is state which is managed automatically and transparently. With object-oriented programming

Object-oriented programming

Object-oriented programming is a programming paradigm using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions – to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction,...

, applications can be componentized into objects with methods called on them. Any object can render itself into a web page as a way to have different parts of a web page managed in a modular way.

Run BASIC favors a widget-based approach where the user interface

User interface

The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...

 (UI) is programed without using HyperText Markup Language (HTML

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

). High-level commands automatically generate HTML. Colors, fonts, backgrounds and layout can be adjusted using Cascading Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...

 (CSS). If needed, HTML or JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....

 can be injected into a page. Interactivity is similar to that of desktop applications, with callbacks tying user actions to program routines. Marshaling web requests and dispatching user actions to procedures is automatic.

Run BASIC can draw graphics and render them into web pages; fetch files from other web sites using GET and POST and use a built-in XML parser to extract data; and includes a database capability using the SQLite

SQLite

SQLite is an ACID-compliant embedded relational database management system contained in a relatively small C programming library. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain and implements most of the SQL standard...

 database engine.

Web server model

Run BASIC is not an add-on module like Perl

Perl

Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...

 or PHP

PHP

PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...

 is for Apache

Apache HTTP Server

The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...

. The BASIC compiler

Compiler

A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...

 and execution model is integrated tightly with its own HTTP server. If needed, it can be proxied

Proxy server

In computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...

 behind another web server, such as Apache. Session management is transparent to programmers. When a web application starts, it is given a session. If it is then inactive long enough (duration is customizable), the session times out and memory is reclaimed. Session logic need not be put in the code.

Supported platforms, licenses

Supported operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

s include Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 2000

Windows 2000

Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...

, XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

, Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

, Mac OS X

Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

, and Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

. Supported web browser

Web browser

A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...

s include Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer

Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...

 6 and 7, Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...

 2 and 3, and Safari

Safari (web browser)

Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...

 3.x. Licenses include commercial and freeware.

See also

• Liberty BASIC
  Liberty BASIC
  Liberty BASIC is a commercial computer programming language and integrated development environment . It has an interpreter developed in Smalltalk, which recognizes its own dialect of the BASIC programming language...
  
  , the Windows-based BASIC on which Run BASIC is based
• Just BASIC
  Just BASIC
  Just BASIC is a dialect of the highly popular programming language BASIC of the 1970s, for 32-bit computer systems using Windows. It's the freeware version of Liberty BASIC, popular since 1992. Just BASIC development began in 2001; first public release was in 2004...
  
  , a freeware version of Liberty BASIC
• SQLite
  SQLite
  SQLite is an ACID-compliant embedded relational database management system contained in a relatively small C programming library. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain and implements most of the SQL standard...
  
  , a popular database engine used by Run BASIC
• WebServ, a QuickBASIC
  QuickBASIC
  Microsoft QuickBASIC is an Integrated Development Environment and compiler for the BASIC programming language that was developed by Microsoft. QuickBASIC runs mainly on DOS, though there was a short-lived version for Mac OS...
  
  HTTP server application

External links

• Run BASIC: Online programming at NetworkWorld
• Hosting for Run BASIC applications