History
Early BASIC Primers
When programming languages appeared in the 1950s and 60s, most of the early learning resources or manuals assumed their readers were engineers, mathematicians, or experienced tinkerers. When John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz introduced Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) in 1963, they produced learning materials that described the language in a new way, emphasizing the language’s responsiveness and suitability for students. [1]
BASIC was quickly implemented on time-sharing services, minicomputers, and the first microcomputers, and technology enthusiasts worked to bring programming skills to people with little or no experience in computing. [2] For example, Bob Albrecht, co-founder of the People’s Computer Company Newsletter, published a BASIC primer designed to make programming exciting and enriching. My Computer Likes Me When I Speak BASIC (1972) taught programming using step-by-step instructions and examples from everyday life. [3]
When Ted Nelson published Computer Lib/Dream Machines in 1974, he described computers as revolutionary devices that put the user in charge of their destiny. “The world is divided,” Nelson wrote, “into people who have written a program and people who have not.” [4] Learning to program was described as a way to activate human agency and contribute to community solidarity.
BASIC Computer Games, Microcomputer Edition (1978), by David Ahl, drew attention to the emerging PC platform and how BASIC could be used to create interesting games and puzzles that were exciting to build. BASIC programming instruction also appeared in popular magazines. For example, columnist Dian Crayne published program listings and design tips in PC Magazine , inviting readers to construct their own adventure-type games using BASIC and assembly language. [5]
BASIC dialects proliferated in the late-1980s, and software companies added an integrated development environment (IDE) and structured programming enhancements to their compilers and interpreters to attract more customers. Prominent examples included True BASIC (1985), Microsoft QuickBASIC (1985), Borland Turbo Basic (1987), and Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System (1989). Computer book publishers responded by publishing trade and academic books about BASIC and related products.
Microsoft Press
Microsoft Press, the book publishing division of Microsoft, had a history of producing books about PC programming, including The Peter Norton Programmer’s Guide to the IBM PC (1985) and Ray Duncan’s Advanced MS-DOS (1986). When Microsoft released QuickBASIC 4.5 for MS-DOS in 1988, Microsoft Press asked permission to distribute a scaled-down version of the product with a new programming primer that could speed the adoption of QuickBASIC and attract new customers to personal computing. [6] The book-and-software product would sell for $39.95 and provide all the resources that new users would need to learn modern, structured programming techniques on a DOS-based computer. [7]
Learn BASIC Now was written by Michael Halvorson and David Rygmyr, two Microsoft Press employees with experience in PC programming and technical writing. They completed the manuscript and MS-DOS sample programs over a period of five months in early 1989. [8] The authors were assisted by staff editors Megan Sheppard and Dail Magee, Jr., and a team of artists, proofreaders, and compositors. The cover was designed by Greg Hickman, and the original illustrations were created by Becky Geisler-Johnson. [9] The interior design featured multiple colors, original artwork, screen shots, and step-by-step programming instructions.
Each lesson in the MS-DOS edition of the book included QuickBASIC programs that the reader could type in on their own or they could load the programs from 5.25” disks included with the package.
The key feature that set the book apart from language references and other tutorials was that practice sessions were presented step by step using detailed instructions, keyboarding icons, a second color for user entry, and jargon-free terminology. These innovative elements were eventually transferred to the Step by Step book series published by Microsoft Press in the 1990s and 2000s.
Contents
Learn BASIC Now was organized into 13 chapters and 4 appendices. Main topics included an introduction to problem solving, building algorithms, controlling program flow, creating subprograms and functions, working with arrays, string-processing techniques, using files and databases, and integrating graphics and sound into games. The text concluded with common debugging scenarios and answers to the questions and exercises presented in the text.
Bill Gates wrote the Foreword to the MS-DOS version of the book, emphasizing that the continuing PC Revolution required all people to participate: “We need a diverse community of users creating tools and solving problems to fully achieve the potential of the microcomputer,” Gates wrote. [10]
Gates also described a universal BASIC-like language that would one day be built into computer applications. [11] Microsoft’s implementation of this became Visual Basic for Applications, first launched in Microsoft Excel 5.0 in 1993.
Halvorson and Rygmyr's text encouraged readers to see programming and the rise of personal computing as positive forces in society. They acknowledged that popular media had depicted computers negatively in the past, but they encouraged people to see how PCs were becoming a part of everyday life:
"Hollywood and television have done a fine job of showing us how computers can take away jobs, make life more difficult, and take over the world. Despite this bad press, personal computers have entered the workplaces and homes of millions, allowing people to perform useful work that makes their lives easier and more productive. Computers have become an integral part of business, communication, entertainment, and scientific research. Because of their ease of use and increased power, people can use today’s personal computer as the tools they were designed to be." [12]
In 1990, Halvorson and Rygmyr published the Macintosh version of Learn BASIC Now, which included the Microsoft QuickBASIC Interpreter for Macintosh Plus, SE, and II systems on 3.5” diskettes. The book-and-software package was also published by Microsoft Press, following an arrangement with the Languages division of Microsoft to distribute a scaled-down version of QuickBASIC for the Macintosh.
Learn BASIC for the Apple Macintosh Now had considerable differences from the MS-DOS version, because the Macintosh was a fully graphical system and offered event-driven programming features. Byte (magazine) columnist and science fiction writer Jerry Pournelle wrote the Foreword to the book, emphasizing the value of learning programming as a gateway to future employment and personal fulfilment. [15]
In 1990, Microsoft also released a book-and-software package for MS-DOS gaming audiences entitled Microsoft Game Shop: Games and the QBasic Learning Environment. The $49.95 software package included the MS-DOS version of Learn BASIC Now, the QBasic Interpreter, and a selection of customizable arcade-style games, including versions of Tetris and Missile Command. [16]
Tony Roberts of Compute! wrote, “BASIC is an ideal first language… For learning to program, Microsoft Game Shop provides an excellent introduction with plenty of fun and useful tools. First time programmers have a chance to experience the challenge and excitement of the old days of computing, but with all the comforts afforded by today’s technology.” [17]
Windows Programming
In January 1996, Halvorson published Learn Visual Basic Now, a version of Learn BASIC Now for the Microsoft Windows operating system using Microsoft Visual Basic version 4.0. Like the first two Learn Now primers, the Microsoft Press book included a working version of the Visual Basic software and step-by-step instructions that presented game and application programming to new audiences, including students and self-taught learners.
Learn Visual Basic Now was a significant revision, replacing older BASIC keywords with newer object-oriented techniques and advice about designing applications for the popular Windows 95 system. [18] In 1999, Learn Visual Basic Now was revised again to introduce Visual Basic 6.0, a program included on a CD-ROM bound into the book. Halvorson continued working on Visual Basic and Windows programming primers as a professor at Pacific Lutheran University, releasing 10 editions of Microsoft Visual Basic Step by Step between 1995 and 2013. [19]
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College in 1963. They wanted to enable students in non-scientific fields to use computers. At the time, nearly all computers required writing custom software, which only scientists and mathematicians tended to learn.
Microsoft Word is a word processing program developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including: IBM PCs running DOS (1983), Apple Macintosh running the Classic Mac OS (1985), AT&T UNIX PC (1985), Atari ST (1988), OS/2 (1989), Microsoft Windows (1989), SCO Unix (1990), Handheld PC (1996), Pocket PC (2000), macOS (2001), Web browsers (2010), iOS (2014) and Android (2015).
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6.0 built into most desktop Microsoft Office applications. Although based on pre-.NET Visual Basic, which is no longer supported or updated by Microsoft, the VBA implementation in Office continues to be updated to support new Office features. VBA is used for professional and end-user development due to its perceived ease-of-use, Office's vast installed userbase, and extensive legacy in business.
"IBM PC–compatible" refers to a class of computers that are technically compatible with the 1981 IBM PC and subsequent XT and AT models from computer giant IBM. Like the original IBM PC, they use an Intel x86 central processing unit and are capable of using interchangeable commodity hardware, such as expansion cards. Initially such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones, but the term "IBM PC compatible" is now a historical description only, as the vast majority of microcomputers produced since the 1990s are IBM compatible. IBM itself no longer sells personal computers, having sold its division to Lenovo in 2005. "Wintel" is a similar description that is more commonly used for modern computers.
Microsoft QuickBASIC is an Integrated Development Environment and compiler for the BASIC programming language that was developed by Microsoft. QuickBASIC runs mainly on DOS, though there was also a short-lived version for the classic Mac OS. It is loosely based on GW-BASIC but adds user-defined types, improved programming structures, better graphics and disk support and a compiler in addition to the interpreter. Microsoft marketed QuickBASIC as the introductory level for their BASIC Professional Development System. Microsoft marketed two other similar IDEs for C and Pascal, viz QuickC and QuickPascal.
Digital Research, Inc. was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser DOS, DOS Plus, DR DOS and GEM. It was the first large software company in the microcomputer world. Digital Research was originally based in Pacific Grove, California, later in Monterey, California.
IBM PC DOS, also known as PC DOS or IBM DOS, is a discontinued disk operating system for the IBM Personal Computer, its successors, and IBM PC compatibles. It was sold by IBM from the early 1980s into the 2000s. Developed by Microsoft, it was also sold by that company to the open market as MS-DOS. Both operating systems were identical or almost identical until 1993, when IBM began selling PC DOS 6.1 with its own new features. The collective shorthand for PC DOS and MS-DOS was DOS, which is also the generic term for disk operating system, and is shared with dozens of disk operating systems called DOS.
Microsoft BASIC is the foundation software product of the Microsoft company and evolved into a line of BASIC interpreters and compiler(s) adapted for many different microcomputers. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first version of BASIC published by Microsoft as well as the first high-level programming language available for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
Tim Paterson is an American computer programmer, best known for creating 86-DOS, an operating system for the Intel 8086. This system emulated the application programming interface (API) of CP/M, which was created by Gary Kildall. 86-DOS later formed the basis of MS-DOS, the most widely used personal computer operating system in the 1980s.
A cross compiler is a compiler capable of creating executable code for a platform other than the one on which the compiler is running. For example, a compiler that runs on a PC but generates code that runs on Android devices is a cross compiler.
Donkey, often known by its filename DONKEY.BAS, is a video game written in 1981 and included with early versions of the IBM PC DOS operating system distributed with the original IBM PC. It is a top-down driving game in which the player must avoid hitting donkeys. The game was written by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and early employee Neil Konzen.
John Socha-Leialoha is a software developer best known for creating Norton Commander, the first orthodox file manager. The original Norton Commander was written for DOS. Over the years, Socha's design for file management has been extended and cloned many times.
Charles Petzold is an American programmer and technical author on Microsoft Windows applications. He is also a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and was named one of Microsoft's seven Windows Pioneers.
Computer Lib/Dream Machines is a 1974 book by Ted Nelson, printed as a two-front-cover paperback to indicate its "intertwingled" nature. Originally self-published by Nelson, it was republished with a foreword by Stewart Brand in 1987 by Microsoft Press.
Personal Ancestral File (PAF) was a free genealogy software program provided by FamilySearch, a website operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was first released in 1983, last updated in 2002, and formally discontinued in 2013. It allowed users to enter names, dates, citations and source information into a database, and sort and search the genealogical data, print forms and charts, and share files with others in GEDCOM format. PAF also linked images and other media files to individual records.
In computer programming, conditional compilation is a compilation technique which results in differring executable programs depending on parameters specified. This technique is commonly used when these differences in the program are needed to run it on different platforms, or with different versions of required libraries or hardware.
Mitchell Waite is an American computer programmer, author and publisher of a number of bestselling programming books along with mobile apps. He was one of the first people to write popular books about electronics and micro-processor-based systems, with his books encouraging the "rapid development of the Mac platform in the 1980s."
The IBM Personal Computer Basic, commonly shortened to IBM BASIC, is a programming language first released by IBM with the IBM Personal Computer, Model 5150 in 1981. IBM released four different versions of the Microsoft BASIC interpreter, licensed from Microsoft for the PC and PCjr. They are known as Cassette BASIC, Disk BASIC, Advanced BASIC (BASICA), and Cartridge BASIC. Versions of Disk BASIC and Advanced BASIC were included with IBM PC DOS up to PC DOS 4. In addition to the features of an ANSI standard BASIC, the IBM versions offered support for the graphics and sound hardware of the IBM PC line. Source code could be entered with a full-screen editor, and limited facilities were provided for rudimentary program debugging. IBM also released a version of the Microsoft BASIC compiler for the PC concurrently with the release of PC DOS 1.10 in 1982.
Michael James Halvorson is an American technology writer and historian. He was employed at Microsoft Corporation from 1985 to 1993 and contributed to the growth of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft Visual Basic software platforms. He is the author of 40 books related to computer programming, using PC software, and the history of innovation and technology.
