Preface to Rapid-Q
Original Documentation by William Yu   ©1999-2000
Contributors- Stanescu Serban, Andrew Shelkovenko , D. Glodt, Jacques Phillip, John Kelly, many others

PREFACE 
 
Rapid-Q is a  BASIC-like programming language for the 32-bit multiplatform. It provides graphical user interfaces (GUI) and CONSOLE programs. The compiler is actually an interpreter for Windows, Linux, and Unix. Rapid-Q compiles your BASIC source code into byte-code, which is normally attached to an interpreter, but can also be run from other programming languages using specialized DLLs. Also Rapid-Q  supports partial object-oriented programming. If you're familiar with either QBasic, PowerBasic, or even VisualBasic, you'll be able to program in Rapid-Q in no time. The overall goal of the project was to provide an alternative BASIC programming language that's not only FREE, but good and easy to use. Rapid-Q is constantly being improved by public support and this help document is part of that development. 
 
The Rapid-Q compiler was written and developed by William Yu. The final release of the software was in BETA testing stage. However, Mr. Yu sold the rights to the owner of RealBASIC(c). Now William Yu no longer supports Rapid-Q. Do not even think about contacting either William Yu or the staff of RealBASIC about Rapid-Q. They would prefer you buy their BASIC compiler. Just because Rapid-Q was released in Beta stage doesn't mean the compiler is not fully  functional! Rapid-Q can make very useable programs of significant complexity. Also don't expect the compiler to become "open source."
 
In Mr. Yu's words, "Being a BASIC programmer at heart, I looked through the eyes of a user, and added the features and ease of use that I like to see in a good programming language... Perhaps in the future, some of these features will become standard in all BASIC languages. The advanced features that Rapid-Q offers need not be used at all, but is available when you get more comfortable with the language itself. For example, Rapid-Q offers object/component creation, function pointers, procedures with infinite parameters, variants, while still maintaining all the fundamental features that most BASIC programmers are familiar with, ie. GOTO, GOSUB, line numbers, etc. This makes converting legacy code much easier. The only feature which deviates from traditional BASIC languages is file handling. I believe that once you understand how file and memory streams work, this can be a huge benefit, rather than a hassle. 

Source Codes
The best way to learn is by example. It really isn't enough just to look at it and say "Uh huh, yeah." Take some time to take it apart and rewrite the code yourself. Trial and error is always a good way of learning. It seems we learn more by our mistakes, this is also true for programming. Yes, you'll have many nights of frustration when your code just doesn't seem to run properly, but once that bug is found, you'll be dancing around like there's no tomorrow.

Full distribution, RapidQ2 files, documentation, libs, source code and examples
Rapidq.phatcode.net

The Future of Rapid-Q
There is still a large community of contributors to the Rapid-Q language. However, you are "on your own" with Rapid-Q. FreeBasic is a very good free alternative to RapidQ.
 
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