So modern, compiled BASIC is easier to use and just about as fast as C.
Versions of basic programming language code#
A compiler does the conversion ahead of time and only once, turning the program code into an executable program your system can run directly, at top speed. It combines the simplicity of BASIC with the sophistication of a structured language. Now many good BASIC compilers are available. BBC BASIC for Windows is an advanced implementation of BBC BASIC for PCs running Microsoft Windows (Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 10), providing the programmer with a familiar language but with a modern interface. This sluggishness was mostly due to the fact that in those days, BASIC was an “interpreted” language that is, every time you ran a BASIC program, you were really running an “interpreter” which executed your program code line by line, converting it on the fly into a form your computer could understand. Even so, the latest versions of BASIC can do just about anything programming languages like C or Pascal can do.īasic was the first language made available for personal computers (Microsoft started its business selling a version) and in recent years it has returned to importance as VISUAL BASIC, though the latter bears little resemblance to earlier versions.īASIC programs have a reputation for being very slow, which they certainly were in the early days of personal computing.
BASIC has the advantage of English-like commands that are easier to understand and remember than those of most other languages. Versions then started appearing on other platforms under license, and millions of copies and variants were soon in use it became one of the standard languages. BASIC stands for beginner’s all-purpose symbolic instruction code, and is a computer programming language that was invented in 1964 at Dartmouth University by John G Kemeny and Thomas E Kurtz.