Editing BASIC (section)

==== Structured BASIC ====
Second-generation BASICs (for example, [[VSI BASIC for OpenVMS|VAX Basic]], [[SuperBASIC]], [[True BASIC]], [[QuickBASIC]], [[BBC BASIC]], [[Pick operating system|Pick BASIC]], [[PowerBASIC]], [[Liberty BASIC]], [[QB64]] and (arguably) [[COMAL]]) introduced a number of features into the language, primarily related to structured and procedure-oriented programming. Usually, [[line number]]ing is omitted from the language and replaced with [[label (computer science)|labels]] (for [[GOTO]]) and [[subroutine|procedures]] to encourage easier and more flexible design.<ref name="GBvsQB">{{cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/73084|title=Differences Between GW-BASIC and QBasic|date=2003-05-12|access-date=2008-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019181140/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/73084|archive-date=2013-10-19}}</ref> In addition keywords and structures to support repetition, selection and procedures with local variables were introduced.

The following example is in Microsoft QuickBASIC:

<syntaxhighlight lang="QBasic">
REM QuickBASIC example

REM Forward declaration - allows the main code to call a
REM    subroutine that is defined later in the source code
DECLARE SUB PrintSomeStars (StarCount!)

REM Main program follows
INPUT "What is your name: ", UserName$
PRINT "Hello "; UserName$
DO
   INPUT "How many stars do you want: ", NumStars
   CALL PrintSomeStars(NumStars)
   DO
      INPUT "Do you want more stars? ", Answer$
   LOOP UNTIL Answer$ <> ""
   Answer$ = LEFT$(Answer$, 1)
LOOP WHILE UCASE$(Answer$) = "Y"
PRINT "Goodbye "; UserName$
END

REM subroutine definition
SUB PrintSomeStars (StarCount)
   REM This procedure uses a local variable called Stars$
   Stars$ = STRING$(StarCount, "*")
   PRINT Stars$
END SUB
</syntaxhighlight>