6 Lessons to learn Small Basic and graduate to Visual Basic!

Learn how to use Small Basic and to graduate to Visual Basic... in 6 steps!

Lesson 1: Getting Started with Small Basic

Lesson 1.1: Introduction to Small Basic - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 30 minutes

Lesson 1.2: Statements, Properties, and Operations - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 1.3: Variables- Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 1.4: Conditions and Loops - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 1.5: Branching and Subroutines - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 2: Graphics Window

Lesson 2.1: Introduction to Graphics Window - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 2.2: Turtle Graphics - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 2.3: Exploring Shapes - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 2.4: Sound, Program, and Text Objects - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 2.5: Clock, Desktop, and Dictionary Objects - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 2.6: Flickr, ImageList, and Network Objects - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 3: Input and Output

Lesson 3.1: File Input and Output - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 3.2: Stacks and Arrays- Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 3.3: The Math Object- Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 3.4: Events and Interactivity - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 3.5: The Controls Object - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 3.6: Debugging Aids- Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 4: Making Your Game

Lesson 4.1: Playing with Shapes - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 4.2: Responding to Events - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 4.3: Collision Detection - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 4.4: Advanced Games - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 5: Share

Lesson 5: Sharing Code - Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

Lesson 6: Graduation Ceremony

Lesson 6: Graduating to Visual Basic- Estimated time to complete this sub-lesson: 1 hour

 

  

Anybody make it through all 6 lessons? And post a comment if you have a better time estimate for these sub-lessons!

   - Tall Basic Ed

Comments

• Anonymous
  October 16, 2012
  I did Lesson 1, part of Lesson 2, and part of Lesson 4 with my son over a weekend.  I'd say about 10+ hours on and off.  He spent a lot of time on Turtle himself :)

• Anonymous
  October 16, 2012
  Thanks Ray! Let me know if you end up doing more and can time any of the sub-lessons. It sounds pretty close to the estimates from what you're saying. How old is your son? Thanks!

  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2017
    21
  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2017
    He is 21

• Anonymous
  October 17, 2012
  Thanks a ton for the tutorials Ed, Small Basic is incredibly intuitive, but it's teaching power is only as powerful as it's teachers!  Good job.

• Anonymous
  October 22, 2012
  LJ, glad you like the tutorials. Let me know if the estimates are accurate.

• Anonymous
  October 25, 2012
  Hey Ed, I am in the process of teaching myself through the use of your guide.  I was wrapping up Lesson 1.5 and started the 'homework' section of the lesson.  Upon completion I had three errors which I figured were likely spelling/spacing errors.  But after copying your answer - multiple times - I still can not get the program to run.  I wanted to respectfully let you know that there might be something wrong with your answer, though it might be a problem on my side :-)

• Anonymous
  December 03, 2012
  H3333333333333YYYY =D =Þ EDDDD you're Awesome

• Anonymous
  December 03, 2012
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  December 03, 2012
  Quantum, Ha! Well, thanks for reading. We hope these helped!

• Anonymous
  December 03, 2012
  LJ, by "only as powerful as its teachers", do you have any further insights? Do you teach Small Basic? Thanks!

• Anonymous
  December 15, 2012
  hi, am now learning vb.net take me through how to load a picture on a form.

• Anonymous
  December 17, 2012
  Ohene, This is for Small Basic. Please ask your question in the VB MSDN forum or search for the documentation on MSDN Library. Thanks!

• Anonymous
  December 18, 2012
  Dibêjin Şam şeqire welat je şêrintire.

• Anonymous
  December 18, 2012
  Then we'll know what's wrong in these lessons, and what needs to be updated. spas

• Anonymous
  January 13, 2013
  really interesting!!! I like it.. waiting for more :)

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2013
  Chris, More? Did you do all these? =^)

• Anonymous
  April 10, 2013
  None of these links seem to work anymore.  Is there someplace else I should be looking?

• Anonymous
  May 15, 2013
  Nate, Yes, we moved the Getting Started Guide to TechNet Wiki. I'll update the links. Thanks!

• Anonymous
  May 18, 2013
  Okay, I updated all the Curriculum links here. You can also find them online on TechNet Wiki: social.technet.microsoft.com/.../16982.small-basic-curriculum-online.aspx Thanks!

• Anonymous
  February 16, 2014
  how can we use while in the small basic

• Anonymous
  February 16, 2014
  can you answer mu question quickly please???????

• Anonymous
  July 03, 2014
  thanks man

• Anonymous
  July 03, 2014
  111, here are some links about the While statement: social.technet.microsoft.com/.../14075.small-basic-control-statements.aspx social.technet.microsoft.com/.../16305.small-basic-curriculum-lesson-1-4-conditions-and-loops.aspx social.technet.microsoft.com/.../16306.small-basic-curriculum-lesson-1-5-branching-and-subroutines.aspx

• Anonymous
  March 16, 2015
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  April 02, 2015
  I really want to know how to do collision detection but I can't as it doesn't actually explain the code and I don't understand it...

• Anonymous
  May 27, 2015
  Hi, my smallbasic dictionary isn't working, can you help me to find the problem?(I don't know, my code is wrong or that's for some thing else) I tried your codes in lesson 2.5 but it didn't work. I really don't know what's wrong.

• Anonymous
  May 27, 2015
  Hi Ed. I think smallbasic is so fun, thank you!  I've learned text window completely but not graphic window, I'm just pro with turtle! Actually, I began smallbasic this year at school and I really want to learn more, but I need some ideas to practice them, can you give me some suggestions? thanks.

• Anonymous
  May 27, 2015
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  August 02, 2015
  Guest_1, We also have the Reference Documentation: social.technet.microsoft.com/.../23583.small-basic-reference-documentation.aspx And this page acts like a TOC of Small Basic content: social.technet.microsoft.com/.../17553.wiki-small-basic-portal.aspx For Collision Detection... social.technet.microsoft.com/.../16382.small-basic-curriculum-lesson-4-3-collision-detection.aspx A good discussion on Collision Detection: social.msdn.microsoft.com/.../collision-detection Thanks!

• Anonymous
  August 02, 2015
  Negarina, Unfortunately, there's a bug in Small Basic where the Dictionary site updated their API, which broke the Dictionary object. Something similar happened with the Flickr object, which was fixed in Small Basic 1.1. Small Basic 1.2 will fix the Dictionary object.

• Anonymous
  August 02, 2015
  ... The status is that we're currently done building 1.2. We are testing it and ironing out any bugs. So we'll publish it when we get the bugs ironed out. Thanks!

• Anonymous
  August 02, 2015
  SBC, that's great! Glad you're learning TextWindow and Turtle! Yes, GraphicWindow is a great next step! Let me know what your age is. If you're 13 or under, we will add your quote to our testimonials blog post here: blogs.msdn.com/.../small-basic-elementary-student-testimonials.aspx Thanks!

• Anonymous
  August 02, 2015
  SBC... oh and your age when you first started learning Small Basic... just in case you started a year or so ago. It might be better to post it on the Testimonials blog post as a comment so that we don't miss your answer. Thanks!

• Anonymous
  August 02, 2015
  Negarina, can you ask in the forum for advice on best practices for animations? We have a lot of pros there: social.msdn.microsoft.com/.../threads Thanks!

• Anonymous
  August 02, 2015
  Negarina, And here are a few resources to learn about animation in Small Basic... social.msdn.microsoft.com/.../how-to-create-animation-with-small-basic This tutorial explains it a bit: social.technet.microsoft.com/.../16370.small-basic-curriculum-lesson-2-3-exploring-shapes.aspx Thanks!

• Anonymous
  November 13, 2015
  Yow man thank you so much i just started collage and i wanna be Computer Engineer, I was looking for these kind of instructive articles, and finally i found one. im on 1.2 for now yet i'll complete until the end. At least i will have some information until university Thanks again ! great work

• Anonymous
  December 07, 2015
  Thank you so much for these, i am up to lesson 4 and have spent 6 hours on and off, i really like how you have written it like your talking to me. Well done for creating a very simple useful tut

• Anonymous
  December 08, 2015
  Fantastic, Kaan! Glad you're putting it to use. Sweet, Insist! We're glad we nailed the voice of the lessons!

• Anonymous
  May 10, 2016
  I fnd diz wbsit hrd and booorang mak it beta and moor smpley

  • Anonymous
    May 10, 2016
    yeah I agree with hooly woo
    • Anonymous
      May 10, 2016
      same hooly woo makes a great point
      • Anonymous
        June 17, 2016
        I agree with Hooly Woo agreeing with Hooly Woo.
  • Anonymous
    June 17, 2016
    Less words? More pictures?

• Anonymous
  May 11, 2016
  this website is really bad

  • Anonymous
    June 17, 2016
    Is it all the words?

• Anonymous
  September 21, 2016
  Hi,I am using Programming Games with small basic and I am stuck in this one spot, I was wondering if you could help me.

  • Anonymous
    November 26, 2016
    why sure
  • Anonymous
    February 03, 2017
    For troubleshooting, please post a question in the Small Basic forum: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=smallbasicThanks!

• Anonymous
  June 07, 2017
  The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 28, 2017
    Thanks Abhi! If you are a teacher, please join us via http://aka.ms/MCSTNWe have a lot of Microsoft employees and other teachers waiting to help support you. Thanks again!