The basics of PowerBASIC syntax are demonstrated in the following lines of source code. These lines were selected simply to demonstrate syntax concepts and are not numbered, although numbering is supported by PowerBASIC. Numbering is rarely used by programmers, whereas labelling is frequently used.

     Dim A as String           ' variable declaration
     Dim B as Long, b as long  ' invalid - B and b are the same variable
     Dim A, B as Long          ' without specifier, A is Single
     Dim a$                    ' $ is variable type specifier for a string
     Dim MyArray()             ' undimensioned array. resize later with REDIM
     Dim N$, N%                ' N$, N% are different variables
     REM ...                   ' any line staring with REM is a comment
     y = 4  'comment here too  ' any text after a ' is also a comment
     a$ = "Hello"              ' assignment of string to variable a$.
     x = 5.23                  ' no end-of-line character required
     a$ = _                    ' use underscore to break statement into 2 lines
             "Goodbye"         ' 2nd line of a 2-line code
     Dim a(5)                  ' simple 6 element array (0-based)
     Dim a(5 to 9)             ' alternate way to state array bounds
     x = sin(10)               ' parentheses must enclose function arguments   
     Sub MyS ()                ' declaration of Sub, no arguments
     Sub MyS (x as long)       ' declaration of Sub, one argument
     MyS x                     ' parentheses optional to use Sub
     

Lines of Code
PowerBASIC source code consists of lines of case-sensitive code. Normally, a single statement is written on each line. However, multiple statement can be written on a single line if separated by the colon : character.

Splitting Lines
The compiler does not care how long a line of code it, but a programmer definitely does. PowerBASIC allows a long line of code to be split into multiple lines by using the underscore _ character. When used, the underscore must be preceded by at least one space.

Comments
Any text to the right of a ' character is treated as a comment and is ignored during execution. Also, a line that begins in REM is also treated as a comment line.

Variables
PowerBASIC variable names consist of letters or digits but must begin with a letter. Additionally, variable names can end with a type specifier, as discussed in the tutorial on data types. Note that a type specifier is consider part of the variable name. In particular, a$ (a string) is a different variable than a% (an integer).

Variable Definition
Declaration of a variable for using it is optional in PowerBASIC. A compiler direction #DIM ALL is added at to a program's source code to force the compiler to identify non-declared variables.

Variable Type Conversion
PowerBASIC supports a wide range of variable data types (integer, long, single, string, ...). If you DIM a variable without specifying a Type, then Single is used.

The type specifier is part of the variable name. x$ is not the same variable as x%.

In general, you can assign the value of a variable of one numeric data type to a variable of another numeric data type. PowerBASIC will convert numeric data types as needed.

However, if a program tries to pass a data type to a procedure that is other than what is specified in the procedure (Sub/Function) declaration, PowerBASIC will not convert the passed argument to the data type specified in the procedure declaration (generates a compiler error).

Strings & Quotes
Strings must be enclosed in double quotes. PowerBASIC does not support single quotes, interpolation (replacing a variable within a string by the variable's value), or escape characters (special symbols within quotes, such a line feed or tabs).

Parentheses
Parentheses () are used by PowerBASIC in several ways.

• Enclose an expression x = (5 + 2)
• Enclose index of array x(5)= 4
• Enclose user-defined procedure arguments MySub (x,2,b)
• Enclose arguments of built-in functions x = sin(10)
• Explicitly define the operator precedence to be used in an expression. This has the practical effect of forcing a sub-expression to a value PRIOR to use, which may be significant when rounding is to occur.
• Define replacement tokens to be used in the evaluation of a MACRO.

Parentheses are optional on Sub procedures.

Long Lines
Lines with lengthy statements may be broken into several lines by using the underscore _ character.

Blocks
PowerBASIC does not support the use of curly brackets { }, nor any other character, to create blocks of code. Such usage is common to C-style programming but is not part of the syntax in BASIC languages.

The source code contained within procedures is sometimes referred to as a block of code, but is not contained within any special character pairs.

Procedures
PowerBASIC supports both Sub and Function procedures. Procedures optionally support arguments.

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