BambooBasic is a modern BASIC programming language inspired by BlitzBasic. It provides a simple yet powerful environment for creating applications, games, and utilities.

To create your first program:

• File > New - Create a new BambooBasic file
• Write your code in the editor
• Build > Build and Run (F5) - Compile and run your program

Windows Users: To prevent false positives from Windows Defender, see Windows Defender Exclusions for setup instructions.

• Making Your First Game - Step-by-step tutorial building a complete game
• Language Reference - Variables, functions, control flow, and more
• Runtime Commands - Graphics, audio, input, networking, and file I/O
• BGI Designer - Visual GUI designer and automatic event dispatching
• IGI, the In-Game GUI - Menus, HUDs and debug panels drawn over your game, styled your way (Dear ImGui)
• Custom Shaders - Image shaders, screen shaders, and the shader compiler
• Palette Cycling - Indexed colour and self-animating images, explained from scratch
• Building for the Web - Compiling to WebGPU, the web loop, and desktop vs web differences
• 3D in 2D - Render real 3D with the 2D commands (depth buffer + quads), with a spinning-cube example
• Debugger - Using the integrated debugger
• AI Assistant - Ask Claude about your code, fix build errors, and let it edit your files
• Examples - Browse the example programs

Note: The runtime reference was created using AI, it scanned the entire library, but, if you do spot any oddities, then please let me know.

• SyntaxBoom Programming Forum - Get support, share your projects, and connect with the community

• Modern BASIC syntax with classes and custom types
• Import system for DLL integration
• DirectX 12 2D graphics engine with a per-pixel depth buffer for real 3D-in-2D
• 2D overlay system with sprites, animations, and text rendering
• Palette cycling and indexed-colour images
• Custom HLSL shader support (image, text, and screen shaders)
• Built-in audio playback (WAV, OGG, MP3)
• Network support (TCP/UDP)
• File operations and string handling
• Visual GUI designer (BGI) with automatic event dispatching
• Integrated debugger with breakpoints and variable inspection
• Syntax highlighting and auto-completion in the editor
• Fast compilation to native executables

BambooBasic uses the following excellent open-source libraries:

• SoLoud Audio Engine - Easy to use, free, portable audio engine (zlib/libpng license)
• miniz - Single C source file zlib-replacement library (MIT license)
• wxWidgets - Cross-platform GUI toolkit (wxWindows Library Licence)

BambooBasic © 2026 Michael Denathorn