{{fbdoc item="title" value="Welcome to FreeBASIC"}}----
Welcome to our world!  This page is an overview of our online warehouse of knowledge.  Enjoy your surfing and we hope this will be the first of many visits.

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Introduction"}}
	""FreeBASIC"" is a free 32-bit compiler for the BASIC language.  It is open source and //[[GnuLicenses licensed under the GPL]]//. It is designed to be syntax compatible with QuickBASIC, while expanding on the language and capabilities. It can create programs for MS-Windows, DOS and Linux, and is being ported to other platforms. See //[[CompilerAbout About FreeBASIC]]// and //[[CompilerFeatures Main Features]]//.

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Latest Version"}}
	""FreeBASIC"" is a beta release compiler and development is ongoing.  With each full update, many features are added, and bugs from previous releases are fixed.  To see the latest version available, visit [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/fbc http://sourceforge.net/projects/fbc]] on [[http://sourceforge.net SourceForge]], or [[http://www.freebasic.net/index.php/download http://www.freebasic.net/index.php/download]] on [[http://www.freebasic.net FreeBASIC's official website]].

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Requirements and Installation"}}
	Minimum hardware is listed on the //[[CompilerRequirements Requirements]]// page.  Visit our //[[CompilerRequirements Installation]]// page for setting up ""FreeBASIC"" on your computer.

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Running"}}
	""FreeBASIC"" is a compiler and as such is not packaged with an IDE (Integrated Development Editor), although there are a few IDE's available. For information on using ""FreeBASIC"" without an IDE, see //[[CompilerRunning Running]]//.

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Compatibility with QuickBASIC"}}
	""FreeBASIC"" is designed to be syntax compatible with [[QuickBASIC]].  For best code-compatibility with ""QuickBASIC"", the //[[CompilerDialects QB dialect]]// can be used when compiling source code. See //[[CompilerDialects FreeBASIC Dialects]]// and //[[LangQB Differences from QB]]//.

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Documentation"}}
	All official documentation can be found online in the wiki at [[http://www.freebasic.net/wiki]].  The online documentation is the most up-to-date resource available.  In all cases it can be regarded as the correct version.  The downloadable versions of the manual are snapshots of the documentation available at a particular time and should be mostly correct for a specific released version of the compiler.  However, we do not maintain multiple versions of the documentation so there may be some discrepancies.

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Starting points in the Manual"}}
	- [[DocToc Table of Contents]]
	- [[CompilerHelp Getting Help with FreeBASIC]]
	- [[CatPgProgrammer Programmer's Guide]]

{{fbdoc item="section" value="Starting points on the Web"}}
	- Official Website at [[http://www.freebasic.net http://www.freebasic.net]]
	- Official Forums at [[http://www.freebasic.net/forum http://www.freebasic.net/forum]]
	- Official Archive at [[http://www.freebasic.net/arch http://www.freebasic.net/arch]]

Thank you for using ""FreeBASIC"".  Happy coding!

{{fbdoc item="back" value="DocToc|Table of Contents"}}