The history of programming languages knows many examples when real revolution in programming happened. The history of the BASIC programming language is just that. From a small, little-spread language for learning, it has turned into a real standard for almost all programming languages.
The BASIC programming language was developed by Thomas Kurtz and John Kenemi in 1964 with the aim of teaching students the basics of programming. The language turned out to be simple, understandable, with a fairly easy interface. The goal of the developers was clear: they needed a simple programming language that was accessible at the same time. Here are the key points that the Basic Fathers took into account:
1) Ease of use;
2) Mass character;
3) Informational content;
4) The language must support the ability to track and eliminate errors;
5) Language should not require serious hardware knowledge;
6) The programming language should become the link between the user and the operating system.
As a result, it began to be used in many other educational institutions. After 11 years, when the world was flooded with millions of new microcomputers, the basic programming language interested Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the people who created Microsoft. It was they who, joining forces, improved the basic version for their first computers, which could work even with 4kb of RAM (!).
After some time, it was their version that became one of the most frequently used and popular programming languages. During the development of the BASIC programming language, they often tried to close it; many wanted to find shortcomings and achieve the abolition of the use of this language. However, with the advent of IBM computers, it was BASIC that became the main programming language that others focused on. It is worth noting that it was already called GW-basic. Then came turbo basic from Borland and Quick Basic. All versions that were developed later were necessarily written in such a way as to maintain compatibility with previous ones. Even the latest version of this programming language works with the very first, with minor adjustments.
And now the era of Microsoft has come. The beginning of the 90s: the windows operating system captured almost the entire software market, everyone was glad to see it, all except programmers. Their life has become hell. To create the most ordinary, simple windows, you had to write a sea of code pages, change the writing fonts, and finally “draw” new buttons. But we must admit that she had more advantages than disadvantages, and in the end, the third version of the operating system has become the world standard for PC.
There was a need for basic modification. Thus, the BASIC programming language became known as Microsoft Visual Basic. Nothing was known about the extensive plans of the company, and the developers focused the new programming language primarily on non-professionals. The programming system, implemented in Visual Basic, made it possible to move away from the heavy structure of windows and create programs of a good level, having not the largest supply of knowledge. The last nail in the coffin, which almost buried others, such pretty good types of programming languages as Fortran and Pascal, was the development of a variety of basic for applications.
Currently, the BASIC programming language is so popular that almost every self-respecting programmer knows and uses it. It should be noted that it is used in applications such as microsoft office and internet explorer. But, perhaps, one of the most significant areas of application, BASIC, was obtained when developing and configuring applications in the .NET environment. In addition, the latest development of Bill Gates, Microsoft C ++ offers users a huge range of opportunities, all thanks to two professors from Dartmouth College.