BASIC - Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
Created in 1964 by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College, BASIC was designed to allow students in non-science fields to use computers. At the time, almost all programming required custom software written in complex languages like FORTRAN or Assembly.
BASICA
This was a version developed by Microsoft for IBM PC-DOS.
Classic BASIC is famous for its Line Numbers. Since early editors didn't have sophisticated cursors, line numbers told the computer the order in which to execute instructions.
PRINT - Displays text or numbers on the screen.- 10 PRINT "Hello World"
INPUT - Asks the user for data.- 20 INPUT "Name? ", N$
GOTO - Jumps to a specific line number. - 30 GOTO 10
IF...THEN - Creates logic and decision making. - 40 IF X > 10 THEN PRINT "Big"
FOR...NEXT - Creates a loop. - 50 FOR I = 1 TO 10
BASIC didn't stay stuck in the 60s. It evolved through several major stages:
Tiny BASIC / Home Computer Era: In the late 70s and 80s, versions like Commodore BASIC and Applesoft BASIC were built into the hardware of home computers.
GW-BASIC: A version for MS-DOS that didn't require the IBM ROM chips, making it the standard for PC clones.
QuickBASIC / QBasic: Released by Microsoft in the late 80s. It removed the requirement for line numbers and introduced "Structured Programming."
Visual Basic (VB): Moved BASIC into the Windows era with a "drag-and-drop" interface for buttons and windows.
VB.NET: The modern version used today within the Microsoft .NET framework for professional software development.
While you wouldn't likely build a modern smartphone app in BASICA, the language taught the world that programming is for everyone. Most of the logic used in BASIC (loops, variables, conditionals) is exactly the same logic used today in Python or JavaScript.
10 CLS
20 PRINT "--- MULTIPLICATION TOOL ---"
30 PRINT
40 REM --- ACCEPT INPUTS ---
50 INPUT "ENTER FIRST NUMBER: ", A
60 INPUT "ENTER SECOND NUMBER: ", B
70 REM --- CALCULATION ---
80 LET C = A * B
90 REM --- OUTPUT TO SCREEN ---
100 PRINT "---------------------------"
110 PRINT "THE RESULT IS:"; C
120 REM --- OUTPUT TO PRINTER ---
130 PRINT "SENDING TO PRINTER..."
140 LPRINT "--- CALCULATION REPORT ---"
150 LPRINT "INPUT A: "; A
160 LPRINT "INPUT B: "; B
170 LPRINT "PRODUCT: "; C
180 LPRINT "---------------------------"
190 PRINT "DONE."
200 END