Profan - officially called Profan2 - version 6.6 is the latest freeware release of RGH's programming language.
It can be used to make applications (or programs) for Windows 95 and higher, and is one of the easiest ways around to do so.
Profan is a complete IDE, all you need to make programs, in one package.
So you don't have to download tons of components and spend hours just to get a working programming environment - it is all set up for you.
The original German release can be found on the official Profan website, but some manual adjustments are required to make it English.
As an easier solution we provide a ready-to-use English Edition of Profan 6.6 on this website: a single Setup file you have to run to get started.
We abbrevate this special release PROF66en. It has many extras over the original release and is supported from this website.
The main program a Profan user works with is the Profan Editor (or ProfEd).
It's basically a text editor where you enter your program's source code, as seen on the screenshot below:
Then you just click PROFAN,Execute or type F7 to test-run your program!
Such instant testing is very useful to see whether the source code you've written works and to see the results of adjustments.
When you are satisfied with the code, it only takes a few clicks to create the final EXE file that anyone with Windows can run.
So Profan's Editor is basically a text editor like Notepad with some extra functions that help you test-run the program you're making, and finalize it to an EXE.
It is very easy to use, so you can focus on the real challange of programming: the language.
Making a program means telling the computer what to do, step by step, with commands such as PRINT and WAITKEY.
On the screenshot above you see the famous 'hello world' application written in Profan's code language.
All it does is display (PRINT) text on the screen, and wait until the user presses a key (WAITKEY):
After that the code is finished and the program closes.
This is a very basic program, but as you learn the language better you can make very advanced applications that could even rival commercial software products!
Profan 6.6 has hundreds of commands and functions (all documented!) so that nearly everything can be done, given enough time and patience.
Because you must be warned: programming takes a lot of effort, with any programming language.
Still we think Profan is a lot of fun and it makes great programs - you should try it out too! Just don't get addicted... :-)
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