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Basic was, and still is, an excellent language for introduction to programming. Yes, there are things you shouldn't do, but that applies to every programming la

by makach 6y ago

Basic was, and still is, an excellent language for introduction to programming. Yes, there are things you shouldn't do, but that applies to every programming language. There is nothing quite so simple, pure and fun as the older programming languages. Everything is a little bit bloated today - but it is infinitely much better when done right than you could ever do with these old languages. for introduction, kudos! just mastering the branch/loop/return you have learned the basics of all programming.

oplav 6y ago
I agree. I forget when I first started playing around with BASIC, but it helped once I got to high school and had a TI graphing calculator. Those calculators have a variant called TI-BASIC and I had a lot of fun coding and playing my own “Guess A Random Number” game.
smcameron 6y ago
One must definitely beware of looking back with rose colored glasses. A couple years ago I came across the BASIC source code for Oregon Trail, and I thought, "Hmm, might be fun to convert it to C." Started poking at it, and... Blargh! It was pretty disgusting. I don't think the program, disgusting as it was, was really unusual or bad for the time, though, and I am certain I wrote similar code on my trusty TI99/4A and thought it was just fine at the time. But then I was just a little kid, and maybe it's just right for a kid, I don't know.
- mark-r 6y ago
  MECC was the organization that introduced me to computers. It was an HP 2000C timesharing system that could only be programmed in BASIC. I never used Oregon Trail but I did write my own game. I have to agree that a simple dialect of BASIC is perfect for learning, even if it's very crude by modern sensibilities.
publicola1990 6y ago
Does Pascal serve that purpose better, and even now through Lazarus provide a very viable software development platform?
- sigzero 6y ago
  Maybe. If I wanted to stay BASIC, I'd probably go with Xojo.

by makach 6y ago

oplav 6y ago

I agree. I forget when I first started playing around with BASIC, but it helped once I got to high school and had a TI graphing calculator. Those calculators have a variant called TI-BASIC and I had a lot of fun coding and playing my own “Guess A Random Number” game.

smcameron 6y ago

One must definitely beware of looking back with rose colored glasses. A couple years ago I came across the BASIC source code for Oregon Trail, and I thought, "Hmm, might be fun to convert it to C." Started poking at it, and... Blargh! It was pretty disgusting. I don't think the program, disgusting as it was, was really unusual or bad for the time, though, and I am certain I wrote similar code on my trusty TI99/4A and thought it was just fine at the time. But then I was just a little kid, and maybe it's just right for a kid, I don't know.

mark-r 6y ago
MECC was the organization that introduced me to computers. It was an HP 2000C timesharing system that could only be programmed in BASIC. I never used Oregon Trail but I did write my own game. I have to agree that a simple dialect of BASIC is perfect for learning, even if it's very crude by modern sensibilities.

publicola1990 6y ago

Does Pascal serve that purpose better, and even now through Lazarus provide a very viable software development platform?

sigzero 6y ago
Maybe. If I wanted to stay BASIC, I'd probably go with Xojo.