Reverse engineering "Hello World" in QuickBasic 3.0

(marnetto.net)

5 points | by alberto-m 9 hours ago ago

3 comments

  • vunderba 8 hours ago ago

    Great article!

    It’s been a while (obviously), but I always used to compile the QB-related runtime modules (QB 4.5) directly into the EXE itself, and the size of most of final binaries fit comfortably on a 1.44 MB floppy.

    We later had a copy of Microsoft BASIC PDS 7.1, which I believe was the last version of QuickBASIC before they moved to VB for DOS. I do remember the final file sizes being smaller so it's possible that it was more intelligent about pruning the library by only bundling the relevant calls pertinent to the source file.

    > I would claim age is a factor, but my former boss, who started university before I was born, is now giving seminars on how to build a project from scratch using Claude Code.

    I hate to be cynical (who am I kidding, no I don't) - but I'd wager everyone is playing this game. It's not because they're necessarily super passionate about AI - it's because giving the corporate equivalent of a TED talk is one of the low-hanging fruit to increase your visibility across the org.

  • gladiatr72 8 hours ago ago

    For your next quest: QuickBBS!

    • alberto-m 8 hours ago ago

      BBS software is a field I should get to know better. It was embarassing to consult Wikipedia to find out what “Door Patch v3.7” (a software I cite in the article) was supposed to be.