It all started with the following question...
What if there were a true replacement to QBasic?
By "true replacement", what does that even mean?
In my mind, the be considered a true replacement to QBasic a few things must be true:
- The overall editing/using experience should be nearly identical to the original; and by nearly I mean that if there are any changes - those should be in the way of improvements, not changes for the sake of changes.
- Which leads me to this point... I should be able to grab any published material for QBasic and the material should be applicable to the replacement; meaning it should "just work". If there are any exceptions where something "doesn't work"; it should be because it simply isn't possible, not because some arbitrary choice was made.
- It should be fast... at least as fast as the original, in all ways (but one would hope faster). 🤠
Which raises many additional questions such as:
- What would it look like?
- How fast could it run?
- What would the overall Edit/Run (F5) experience be?
- Could it be cross-platform?
- What modern language would it be built in?
- How close to the original could it really be?
- What advantages would there be in doing so?
- Would anyone care?
- What exceptions, if any, will there be to the "just work"?
- Are there any "glass ceiling" circumstances where it can still work similarly (retaining the "just works")... but significantly improved?
- And then what? What, if any, areas can be added/improved upon beyond what was in the original while still retaining the "just works" goal?
Some of these questions are pretty easy to answer, while others are certainly in the wait and see category.