Book excerpt: The BEGINNING MICROSOFT SMALL BASIC programming and porting tutorial is an interactive self-study tutorial explaining in depth the new Microsoft Small Basic development environment using many Small Basic program examples. This course is written for the absolute beginner programmer and can be used by kids (13+) as well as adults. The BEGINNING MICROSOFT SMALL BASIC programming and porting tutorial consists of 11 chapters explaining (in simple, easy-to-follow terms) how to build Small Basic applications and then compare them to other programming languages. You will learn about program design, text window applications, graphics window applications and many elements of the Small Basic language. Numerous examples are used to demonstrate every step in the building process. The tutorial also includes several detailed computer programs to illustrate the fun of Small Basic programming. Finished programs can even be published on-line to share programs with others. The last chapter of the tutorial shows you the source code for four of David H. Ahl's classic Small Basic Computer Games ported into several different computer programming languages including BASIC, Microsoft Small Basic, Visual Basic, Visual C#, and Java. No programming experience is necessary, but familiarity with doing common tasks using a computer operating system (simple editing, file maintenance, understanding directory structures, working on the Internet) is expected. The course requires Windows 7, XP, or Vista, ability to view and print documents saved in Microsoft Word format, and the Microsoft Small Basic development environment (Version 0.9 or higher).