{"slug": "gambas", "name": "Gambas", "category": "editors", "category_name": "Editors and IDEs", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.818, "rising": 0.69, "first": "2025-12-02", "latest": "2026-09-30", "why": "GAMBAS is a sort of a fan continuation of VB6, and it's awesome", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "GAMBAS is a sort of a fan continuation of VB6, and it's awesome", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "gambaswiki.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://gambas.sourceforge.net", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Gambas", "GAMBAS"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 796958624, "item_id": 49809914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49809914", "by": "aperrien", "date": "2026-09-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There's Gambas:", "excerpt": "There's Gambas: https://gambaswiki.org/website/en/main.html Lazarus/FreePascal: https://www.lazarus-ide.org/ Kivy: https://kivy.org/ Grails: https://grails.apache.org/ And any number of combinations using the web. I think they've just fallen off in popularity due to all the web interfaces, honestly.", "context": "", "use_case": "Access-like database apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived"}, {"id": 788670192, "item_id": 49291887, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49291887", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-08-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for the slightly younger folks who have more memories of Visual Basic than QBasic, check out GAMBAS", "excerpt": "And for the slightly younger folks who have more memories of Visual Basic than QBasic, check out GAMBAS: https://gambaswiki.org/website/en/main.html", "context": "", "use_case": "BASIC-style programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Donkey.bas is 45 Years Old \u2013 131 line of Glory"}, {"id": 781409473, "item_id": 48838092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48838092", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-07-08", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "GAMBAS is a sort of a fan continuation of VB6, and it's awesome", "excerpt": "I used to be and think like you, except I used AutoHotkey instead. It kicked off my IT career - writing AHK scripts for the helpdesk I used to work at greatly improved the efficiency of the team, and quickly got me promoted to Tier 2. Eventually I left that organisation and joined an MSP. Suddenly, there were a lot more restrictions. I had multiple servers and isolated environments to look after. We were not allowed ", "context": "Linux user building tools for newbies", "use_case": "rapid GUI app development on Linux", "switched_from": "AutoHotkey", "story": "Why I Still Build Small Windows Tools with AutoIt"}, {"id": 769314928, "item_id": 48082183, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48082183", "by": "BSDobelix", "date": "2026-05-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Gambas ;)", "excerpt": "Gambas ;) https://gambaswiki.org/website/en/main.html", "context": "", "use_case": "Visual Basic-like IDE", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm writing a history of Visual Basic, Chapter 1 is up"}, {"id": 767715360, "item_id": 47982210, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47982210", "by": "conz", "date": "2026-05-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "if using Linux and want the open source equivalent", "excerpt": "Obligatory: if using Linux and want the open source equivalent: https://gambaswiki.org/website/ GAMBAS is a free development environment and a full powerful object-oriented language and development platform based on a Basic interpreter with optional just-in-time compilation, as easy as Visual Basic\u2122 was.", "context": "", "use_case": "Visual Basic-style app development", "switched_from": "", "story": "What did you love about VB6?"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "d3Xt3r", "context": "Linux user building tools for newbies", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48838092", "date": "2026-07-08"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["access-like database apps", "basic-style programming", "rapid gui app development on linux", "visual basic-like ide", "visual basic-style app development"], "compared": [{"slug": "autohotkey", "name": "AutoHotkey", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "visual-basic", "name": "Visual Basic", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "lazarus", "name": "Lazarus", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896712", "title": "Tcl/Tk 9.1", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49808023", "title": "Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49289465", "title": "Donkey.bas is 45 Years Old \u2013 131 line of Glory", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48836955", "title": "Why I Still Build Small Windows Tools with AutoIt", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48039249", "title": "I'm writing a history of Visual Basic, Chapter 1 is up", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47981961", "title": "What did you love about VB6?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 798458368, "item_id": 49903648, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49903648", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-09-30", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Linux only, not sure if there's a nice visual UI builder", "excerpt": "It was nice/workable for its time, and one wishes that there was some modern alternative, but \"RAD\" seems to have dropped off the radar. Some things I've tried/looked into (beyond TCL/TK): - Gambas --- Linux only, not sure if there's a nice visual UI builder - LiveCode --- still salty about the license rug pull, wish the openxtalk folks could get some traction - MoonBasic --- looks promising, but currently trying....", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tcl/Tk 9.1"}, {"id": 796958624, "item_id": 49809914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49809914", "by": "aperrien", "date": "2026-09-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There's Gambas:", "excerpt": "There's Gambas: https://gambaswiki.org/website/en/main.html Lazarus/FreePascal: https://www.lazarus-ide.org/ Kivy: https://kivy.org/ Grails: https://grails.apache.org/ And any number of combinations using the web. I think they've just fallen off in popularity due to all the web interfaces, honestly.", "context": "", "use_case": "Access-like database apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived"}, {"id": 788670192, "item_id": 49291887, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49291887", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-08-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for the slightly younger folks who have more memories of Visual Basic than QBasic, check out GAMBAS", "excerpt": "And for the slightly younger folks who have more memories of Visual Basic than QBasic, check out GAMBAS: https://gambaswiki.org/website/en/main.html", "context": "", "use_case": "BASIC-style programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Donkey.bas is 45 Years Old \u2013 131 line of Glory"}, {"id": 781409473, "item_id": 48838092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48838092", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-07-08", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "GAMBAS is a sort of a fan continuation of VB6, and it's awesome", "excerpt": "I used to be and think like you, except I used AutoHotkey instead. It kicked off my IT career - writing AHK scripts for the helpdesk I used to work at greatly improved the efficiency of the team, and quickly got me promoted to Tier 2. Eventually I left that organisation and joined an MSP. Suddenly, there were a lot more restrictions. I had multiple servers and isolated environments to look after. We were not allowed ", "context": "Linux user building tools for newbies", "use_case": "rapid GUI app development on Linux", "switched_from": "AutoHotkey", "story": "Why I Still Build Small Windows Tools with AutoIt"}, {"id": 769314928, "item_id": 48082183, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48082183", "by": "BSDobelix", "date": "2026-05-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Gambas ;)", "excerpt": "Gambas ;) https://gambaswiki.org/website/en/main.html", "context": "", "use_case": "Visual Basic-like IDE", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm writing a history of Visual Basic, Chapter 1 is up"}, {"id": 767715360, "item_id": 47982210, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47982210", "by": "conz", "date": "2026-05-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "if using Linux and want the open source equivalent", "excerpt": "Obligatory: if using Linux and want the open source equivalent: https://gambaswiki.org/website/ GAMBAS is a free development environment and a full powerful object-oriented language and development platform based on a Basic interpreter with optional just-in-time compilation, as easy as Visual Basic\u2122 was.", "context": "", "use_case": "Visual Basic-style app development", "switched_from": "", "story": "What did you love about VB6?"}, {"id": 737987488, "item_id": 46124218, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46124218", "by": "supercheetah", "date": "2025-12-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Have you checked out Gambas[1]?", "excerpt": "Have you checked out Gambas[1]? 1. https://gambaswiki.org/website/en/main.html", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "YouTube increases FreeBASIC performance (2019)"}]}