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Courses Offered

Intro to Programming with Liberty BASIC
Classes are open now!  Enrollment includes a $29.95 copy of Liberty BASIC SILVER, absolutely FREE!

From the ground up you will learn programming using Liberty BASIC, a classic BASIC language updated for modern computers.  No previous experience is required in this fun online course!  You will learn about:

  • Programming basics
  • Logic and structure
  • Debugging
  • Reading and writing files
  • Creating graphical user interfaces
  • Drawing computer graphics
  • Software design
  • Modularity

Study at your own convenience.  Come to the online classroom when it fits into your schedule!

When you have completed this course, you will be ready to write your own software in Liberty BASIC.  Then, continue your studies Liberty BASIC or in another programming languages.  Click here for details about enrollment.

Prerequisites - Each student must have access to a computer running Microsoft Windows and a copy of Liberty BASIC v4.01 (free SILVER license with your enrollment!) must also be installed.  In addition each student must have Internet access and a web browser. 

Here is an overview of this online learning session. In our online forums you will be able to interact with the instructor and with other students to discuss the finer points of the lessons. Your instructor will provides personal insights into the finer points and of the history of the subject matter of computer programming!

Certification: This is not a certificate course. You will have assignments to work through, and self study quizzes to complete, but your work will not be graded by the instructor.

Format: This is a web-based course. Each section of the study material will have its own message area where students will interact with the instructor and each other. Students will be encouraged to help each other on the message forums. There will also be a lounge area so students can interact casually and get to know each other.
 

Lessons

Lesson One
Our first lesson covers: A Hairy Short History of Programming - The BASIC programming language - Introducing Liberty BASIC Making an Impression - PRINT and NOTICE - Math - String and numeric literals - Thinking Green with PRINT - It's Not Easy Being Green - Using your printer with Liberty BASIC

Lesson Two
Juggling Information - Variables - INPUT and PROMPT - Things you can do, especially with strings - Using the debugger - Lesson Two Exercises

Lesson Three
Decisions, decisions! - Branch labels - GOTO - looping - IF THEN - comparison operators - IF THEN/ELSE/END IF

Lesson Four
Getting loopy with Iterators - FOR/NEXT - WHILE/WEND - Good practices

Lesson Five
Software Refactoring and Reuse - Modularity - Reuse - CALL and SUB - User Functions

Lesson Six
Using Arrays - Index Out of Bounds - Playing the Numbers - Arrays are Globally Scoped

Lesson Seven
Reading and Writing Sequential Files, Part 1 - OPEN - CLOSE - PRINT - Let's take it for a spin - Reading from a file

Lesson Eight
Programming the Windows Graphical User Interface - Your first window! - Adjusting window size and position - Adding a button - Adding an entry field with TEXTBOX - Print is optional - Labeling with statictext controls - Trapping a window close event

Lesson Nine
Drawing Graphics with Liberty BASIC - Virtual Canvas - Graphics in a non graphics window - Managing drawing segments - A graph plotting example - The Simplest Way to Draw With Segments - Working with Bitmaps - Capturing Keyboard Activity - Detecting Mouse Actions