Difference between revisions of "BASIC"

From Computer History Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(Popular versions)
(Add a bit of the history)
Line 1: Line 1:
BASIC is the "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code" programming language.
+
BASIC is the "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code" [[programming language]], created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College for pedagogical use, and first introduced in 1964. That original version was an [[interpreter]] which ran under a [[time-sharing]] [[operating system]] on a small [[mainframe]].
  
Since it was very simple for users to understand, many micro computers from the 1970's and 1980's would include BASIC as a feature.
+
It later became popular on [[minicomputer]]s, in exactly the same usage mode. Since it was very simple for users to understand, many [[microcomputer]]s from the 1970's and 1980's would include BASIC as a feature.
  
 
One of the more popular versions was the Microsoft ROM version, which was used in many machines.
 
One of the more popular versions was the Microsoft ROM version, which was used in many machines.
Line 38: Line 38:
 
*[[GWBasic]] (1988)
 
*[[GWBasic]] (1988)
 
*[[Quick_Basic]] (1990)
 
*[[Quick_Basic]] (1990)
 +
 +
{{semi-stub}}
  
 
[[Category:Languages]]
 
[[Category:Languages]]
{{stub}}
 

Revision as of 23:12, 18 March 2019

BASIC is the "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code" programming language, created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College for pedagogical use, and first introduced in 1964. That original version was an interpreter which ran under a time-sharing operating system on a small mainframe.

It later became popular on minicomputers, in exactly the same usage mode. Since it was very simple for users to understand, many microcomputers from the 1970's and 1980's would include BASIC as a feature.

One of the more popular versions was the Microsoft ROM version, which was used in many machines.

Microsoft went on to improve BASIC with Quick Basic which removed line numbers, and made BASIC more procedural, then the next evolution was Visual Basic a pseudo Object Oriented version for programming the Microsoft Windows environments. And finally the Visual Basic .net language which is for the .net framework.

Early versions

Early versions of Basic were known for needing line numbers, and it allowed direct hardware access via PEEK,POKE keywords. Many of these programs were NOT portable, as the hardware was not standardized, and many vendors added their own extensions to the language.

10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD."

A sample basic program.

Procedural Versions

With Quick Basic, programs no longer needed line numbers, and the language was able to use the medium & large memory models with later versions. Quick Basic was also included in MS-DOS 5.0 replacing the older GWBasic.

PRINT "HELLO WORLD."

A sample QuickBasic program.

Popular versions

Just a quick grouping of popular basics