Microsoft QBasic, also known as QuickBasic, is a programming language that lets you create computer programs and utility applications. It runs from the MS-DOS command line and can open a variety of file types. This programming interface is a variant of Basic, which was originally developed in May 1964 at Dartmouth University. Microsoft released QBasic in 1985 on the MS-DOS operating system.
BAS
- QBasic can open, read and run the ".BAS" file type. It is the primary file that programming code is saved into. The ".BAS" file was first introduced in 1964 with the original Basic programming interface. It served the purpose of letting a programmer save his work and run the file later on.
TXT
- The ".TXT" file extension is another file type that is compatible with QBasic. Information is saved in a plain text format that is readable by many applications and programming interfaces. A text file serves as a convenient way for a programmer to save user-based information to a file, with each entry on a new line.
DAT
- The ".DAT" file extension provides a way for QBasic programmers to store sequential data in a file. The data inside file is composed of strings and numbers. QBasic must open to read its data and must close it to flush it out of the program's memory. A data file is used to read data as well as write or append new program data.
CSV
- It is possible for a programmer to open and read the data in a Comma Separated Value (".CSV") file, as long he remembers to parse the string, knowing there are commas acting as dividers between each new data entry. Alternatively, QBasic is capable of accessing data inside a Space Delimited File (".SDF"), where a new entry is designated by a space.
