[Petit Computer-will be removed from 3DS eShop] A notification on the EU 3DS eShop stated that the game will only be available until Jan. 31, 2015. NA is probably affected as well. SmileBASIC is scheduled for a Spring 2015 release on the 3DS eShop. It was released in Japan (as Petit Computer 3) on Nov. 19, 2014. (More info in the comments) [Source] EU 3DS eShop [Poster] Agentdave7

-faster, richer programs and more advanced code and data management. -supports 3DS control scheme (including the microphone, gyroscope, motion sensor, Slide Pad, 3D, and even the Circle Pad Pro) -editor improvements, including inline help, syntax highlighting, and multi-line copy and undo.

-programs can now be up to 999999 lines of unlimited length (barring free space on the system), up from 9999 lines w/ 100 letters per line in Petit Computer. -up to 4 different programs can be switched between and edited/executed at the same time. -programs can be backed up and shared with others in the Cloud™ from within SmileBASIC. [Agentdave7]

I already downloaded it a year ago. However, with SmileBASIC, I'll finally get to create better programs. Hopefully it can integrate some in-game tutorials, cause when I first played it, I was lost. I'm slightly less lost, but still pretty lost as of now.

What is that application? What does it do?

You make your own games

I haven't used BASIC programming since my high school days & FORTRAN in college. I need a refresher BASIC course.

ROFL @ Basic Where's my ZX81?

ZX81, you still have one? I remember typing BASIC into one of them, from a magazine. I shifted my sitting position and accidentally nudged the ZX81 which caused the 16k memory pack to wobble, which cause the system to reset, which caused the operator to curse!

LOL! @LC: I remember typing BASIC on the Apple II with a green CRT monitor. Ah, the good ol' days of computing.

Basically a simplified game engine? Might make good prototyping ground for game concepts.

BASIC? Let me quote well-known Dutch computer scientist Edsger Djikstra: "It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration." Seriously, I'm sure people come up with cool stuff and it's relatively easy to learn, but gosh, it's an awful language.

So wait, there's been a programming application available for the DS and I haven't heard of it until now? Looks like it could be cool if I learned how to code.

I got the DS1 one just to have fun with it. I have yet to have fun with it

F me. I just bought it like a week ago

I've been thinking on getting this for a while since I'm entering informatics school this year... However, Friik's comment made me hold back. @Friik, why do you say so? @Anyone, do you have any opinion on the matter? PARA LER EM PORTUGUÊS: PARA LEER EN ESPAÑOL: PER LEGGERE IN ITALIANO: https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAACAAADVHibpic26w

@Fran News: I can only talk about BASIC in general, as I have no knowledge about PetitCom or SmileBASIC. So this might be different there, it certainly is to an extent in Microsoft Visual Basic. It has certain characteristics that make it impractical for any serious software engineering efforts. It has no strict types, doesn't support handy modern "tricks" like objects, type polymorphism etc.

If you want to learn programming, I wouldn't recommend learning a specific language, and certainly not a BASIC variant. A good starting point from the standpoint of a programmer is getting a book about object-oriented programming and Python. It's a relatively simple language that makes you achieve results quickly and teach you a thing or two about good programming style and design patterns.

In the end, you won't be able to dodge learning a lot of theory. You don't "learn a programming language", you learn "how to develop 'good', reliable, maintainable software". BASIC programs can tend to be exactly not that, though if you're disciplined and know what you're doing, you can achieve good results with that, too.

Thanks for the answer, @Friik. Considering that I understood only half of what you wrote, I think I'll simply wait until I learn a bit of programming and then make a decision. Please, don't take it as an offense, your answer was quite precise and I bet that anyone who knows something about programming would appreciate it, but I'm just incapable understanding it now, since I have no experience.

The tl;dr version would be: Learn modern programming principles with a modern language, like for example Python. BASIC is kinda 80s ;).

Why? It's at their disadvantage lol.

Currently taking a BASIC course. Definitely getting the 3DS one so I can make dirty games to entertain friends with in long car rides.

You people are luckily that you were taught B.A.S.I.C, in my high school they teach us "scratch" a programming language hybrid made by M.I.T Media Labs thats used for animation. It has no "hello world" starter project.

learned to move the turtle;) golang(.org) is kewl! (since erlang is dead)

I prefer to learn coding languages rather than spoken languages.

@Fran News: As with most things "it depends". If you're going to start learning Informatics then is probably best if you don't start with BASIC until you find out what the course covers. If you were in a career where you use spreadsheets, databases, etc you'll find BASIC to be really valuable. If you were in a career where you created the programs that are spreadsheets, databases, etc then you

perhaps wouldn't.