B4X is a suite of

rapid application development Rapid application development (RAD), also called rapid application building (RAB), is both a general term for adaptive software development approaches, and the name for James Martin's method of rapid development. In general, RAD approaches to ...

IDEs Ides or IDES may refer to: Calendar dates * Ides (calendar), a day in the Roman calendar that fell roughly in the middle of the month. In March, May, July, and October it was the 15th day of the month; in other months it was the 13th. **Ides of Mar ...

and proprietary programming language that allows the creation of applications on the following platforms: Google

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

, Apple

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...

and

Arduino Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed unde ...

. Although the B4X syntax is very similar to BASIC, it is an entirely new language. B4A, B4i, and B4J feature a

visual designer Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development which is concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is not only concerned with developing the message in addition to the ...

that simplifies the process of creating user interfaces. B4R does not feature a visual designer due to the nature of single-board and SoC devices. For learning the language, there is a comprehensive set of eBooks called "B4X Booklets" available for free that act as a learning guide. There is also a library of videos made by Erel available to consume.

Basic4PPC

Basic4ppc (pronounced "Basic for PPC") was the first IDE produced by Anywhere Software. Basic4ppc allowed programmers to write applications for

Pocket PC A Pocket PC (P/PC, PPC) is a class of personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Windows Mobile or Windows Embedded Compact operating system that has some of the abilities of modern desktop PCs. The name was introduced by Microsoft in 2000 ...

devices that ran the

Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants. Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...

operating system. Basic4PPC was released in 2005 and its final release was in December of 2018. Basic4PPC is no longer available for purchase.

B4A

B4A (formerly known as Basic4android) is the second IDE produced by Anywhere Software. The first public version was released on December 7, 2010, and allows users to code native Android apps in B4X. B4A is able to create apps, widgets, and games. There is also a beginners guide that is updated after each new release of the IDE. On February 5, 2020, B4A became free. There are no plans to make B4i free.

B4J

B4J is the third IDE produced by Anywhere Software. The first public version was released on December 4, 2013. B4J targets the following platforms: Desktops, Web Servers, and ARM Boards such as

B4i

B4i is the fourth IDE produced by Anywhere Software. B4i is capable of creating applications that target iPhone and iPad devices and there is a separate service which allows developers to compile and publish apps without the need for a local Mac computer. The first public version was released on November 14, 2014.

B4R

B4R is the fifth IDE produced by Anywhere Software. B4R allows programmers to write applications for

boards. Supported Arduino modules include:

ESP8266 The ESP8266 is a low-cost Wi-Fi microchip, with built-in TCP/IP stack, TCP/IP networking software, and microcontroller capability, produced by Espressif Systems in Shanghai, China. The chip was popularized in the English-speaking maker culture ...

and

ESP32 ESP32 is a series of low-cost, low-power system on a chip microcontrollers with integrated Wi-Fi and dual-mode Bluetooth. The ESP32 series employs either a Tensilica Xtensa LX6 microprocessor in both dual-core and single-core variations, Xtensa L ...

Release history

Code examples

Comments

Comments are usually used to point out what a particular piece of code does. Comments can also be used to describe whole methods. Compilers ignore comments so use comments for whatever you want! 'This is a comment

Displaying a random number in a message box.

Declare a XUI variable in "Process_Globals","Globals", or "Class_Globals": Private xui As XUI Generate the random number and then display it in a message box: Public Sub MyButton_Click Dim Random As Int = Rnd(1,10) xui.MsgboxAsync(Random, "Your random number") End Sub

Displaying a random number in a message box (legacy method).

The following code can be shared between B4A, B4i, and B4J with no changing: Sub MyButton_Click Dim Random As Int = Rnd(1, 10) #If B4J fx.Msgbox(Form, Random, "Your Number") #Else MsgBox(Random, "Your Number") #End If End Sub

References

{{GUI builders Integrated development environments Software development process Free integrated development environments