Re: BASIC turns 60

Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote:

On 5/1/2024 2:16 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

 
I'd wager that even if you don't know anything else about it, most
people have at least heard of the BASIC programming language. Designed
as an easy-to-use language, its comparatively lightweight footprint
paired well with the newest microcomputers of the 70s and 80s. It was
the de facto standard language for many PCs - in fact, for the longest
time, even IBM PC/Compatibles would try to boot to a BASIC interpreter
if no boot-sector was found on floppy or hard-drive, burning the
nonsensical "No ROM BASIC System Halted" message into many a PC-users
brain if there was a disk failure).
 
In some ways BASIC was the Java of its time; a common language that
(more or less) ran on many different computers regardless of
hardware.* Many classic games were coded in BASIC, and -even as the
world slowly moved away from that language - many developer's first
steps (and games!) were made using BASIC. Microsoft's first product
was a BASIC interpreter; without it, they'd never have had the cash to
'create' their DOS operating system and we might still all be under
the thumb of IBM (and probably still using 16-bit processors. IBM
hated innovation). I myself have semi-fond memories of typing in BASIC
programs from some magazine into my 8-bit PC, and then struggling to
understand what the hell I was doing.
 
Anyway, BASIC turned 60 today, with the first BASIC program being run
1 May 1964 in Dartmouth College. So let's all raise a glass to this
pioneer of computing that helped make the microcomputer industry the
success it is today.
 

* not quite, since BASIC interpretations varied from platform to
platform, but - especially in the early days - it didn't take too much
effort to port programs between different systems

I took a BASIC class in Jr. College in the 80's, I made a few programs.
The one I remember most was one that would roll D&D characters on 3d6 in
order until you qualified for the class you wanted to play (1e/2e) which
was over 1000 rolls for the one Paladin.

I'm still slowly trying to learn Javascript, but it makes absolutely no
sense to me in comparison.  I can type a simple program in and try to
figure out why it isn't working, but that's about it, which is discouraging.

I had tried to learn Python many years ago on my own, but just didn't
have the motivation, I remember it making a lot more sense though.
Maybe I should go back to that, but I wanted the web native abilities of
Javascript.

I don't like coding. I do like breaking stuff though as a QA tester. ;)
--
"Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." --Ecclesiastes 5:2. 26 yrs. :O
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