Apple Inc.
Sixty years ago, on May 1, 1964 4 in the morning, a quiet revolution in computing began at Dartmouth College. It was then that mathematicians John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz successfully executed the first program written in their newly developed BASIC (Beginner All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language on the college’s General Electric GE-225 mainframe.
Little did they know that their creation would go on to democratize computing and inspire generations of programmers for the next six decades.
What is BASIC?
BASIC in its most traditional form interpreted a programming language that works line by line with line numbers. A typical program might look like this:
10 PRINTS “WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”
20 ENTRY N$
30 PRINT “HELLO,”;N$
Programs could jump between lines using commands like GOTO, which often led to simple looping programs by beginners that filled the screen with repeated words. Or, a program that counts to infinity can quickly be written as:
10 LET X=X+1
20 X PRINT
30 GOTO 10
Most programming languages today use different types of structural paradigms (such as functions and object-oriented programming), but BASIC’s easy-to-understand syntax with plain English keywords has proven popular and easy to use for beginners.
A journey to BASIC
First early computers were small, cheap and “personal”, difficult to use. At first, computer programming consisted of connecting wires, then flipping switches and even punching paper cards. Engineers over time developed its ways abstracting low-level programming operations with a friendlier interface. This is where programming languages come from.
Like programming languages before BASIC Fortran, Alcoholand COBOL proved to be sophisticated and was primarily used by professionals. Kemeny and Kurtz saw a need for hobbyists who were not computer engineers to be able to use computers. Their journey to create a more convenient language began in 1956 with Dartmouth’s Simplified Code.I DO), followed by Dartmouth’s Oversimplified Programming Experience (DOPE). Although DOPE was too simple to use much, the lessons learned from these projects informed the development of BASIC, which began in 1963.
In the same year, he applied for a National Science Foundation grant to bring it to Kemeny GE-225 computer Ship to Dartmouth and build the first fully functional general-purpose time-sharing system. Despite grant judges’ doubts about his plan to do the work with a group of undergraduates, Kemeny secured the funding.
Along with Kurtz and a group of undergraduates, Kemeny built a time-sharing system to open up computer access to everyone at Dartmouth. BASIC’s simplicity and power quickly made it a favorite among students and teachers alike.
BASIC PC is going
BASIC’s influence extended far beyond Dartmouth’s campus. As part of a deal to buy a GE computer, the undergraduates built an operating system in BASIC for General Electric’s time-sharing version. This allowed colleges, high schools, and individuals across the country to access mainframe computers and write programs using BASIC.
In 1975, Paul Allen and Bill Gates adapted this language for personal computers Altair 8800, expanding its reach to a new audience of small PC owners and building Microsoft in the process. Steve Wozniak in 1976 built a BASIC interpreter from scratch I use self-taught methods and minimal resources for Apple. This happened BASIC integer A year later for the Apple II and BASIC (as Applesoft BASIC) remained a staple of the Apple II throughout the platform’s lifetime.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, BASIC continued to play a prominent role as a programming interface and quasi-operating system for popular home computers. Atari 800, TRS-80, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, TI-99/4A, BBC Micro and IBM PC, where it is pre-installed in ROM as part of the operating system or shipped as a readily available programming environment. Early computer magazines like Compute! line-by-line printable BASIC code listings.
BASIC today
Today, BASIC remains popular in hobbyist retrocomputer circles, but few use it as a practical language. Yet it never truly died—instead, it continued to evolve.
Many others BASIC dialects are available for various platforms today, but some of Microsoft’s are the most widely used. After Microsoft GW-BASIC and QuickBasicas a descendant of BASIC Visual Basic, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and Microsoft Small Basic to live Introduced by Microsoft in 1991, Visual Basic has become a popular choice for developing Windows applications, while VBA is widely used for scripting and automation in Microsoft Office applications. Released in 2008, Microsoft Small Basic serves as a teaching tool to teach programming concepts to beginners.
Meanwhile, other modern languages, e.g Python and JavaScript, have taken on roles similar to those once filled by BASIC. These languages favor simplicity, readability, and ease of use, making them popular choices for introductory programming courses and rapid application development.
Despite its declining practical use, BASIC’s legacy lives on in its influence on later programming languages and its role in making computing accessible to a wider audience. As we celebrate BASIC’s 60th anniversary, let’s raise a glass to Kemeny and Kurtz for empowering several generations of young computer programmers.