Learning how to program is an exciting project but one that can be hard to get in to. Even the free Express Editions of the Visual Studio family are somewhat complicated.

Small Basic is different. It has been created to be easy to learn and the programming interface is clean yet helpful with code completion offerings.

As the name suggests, Small Basic is an attempt to recreate the days of Dos with computers such as the ZX Spectrum. It was easy to learn and gave results quickly. Small Basic is limited to just 15 keywords to reduce the amount of learning required.

We were very impressed with the code editor. It uses the Ribbon interface and looks very attractive. It also offers code completion, as you start typing a command various possibles are suggested underneath along with a quick description. You might have heard of this under the name Intellisense in more advanced editors like Visual Studio. The text of the code is also colour-coded to make it easier to read.

Just in case the capabilities of Small Basic become limiting, it is possible to add extra bits of program to it, known as libraries.

As a beginners tool, Small Basic is hard to fault. There were one or two gaps in the getting started guide but anyone considering learning how to program should give this a go.