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BASIC turns 60: Why simplicity was this programming language's blessing and its curse
Since the 1960s, BASIC has introduced countless beginners to computer programming. Here's how the language got started, the paths it cleared for Windows and Apple, and where you can still find it today.
Mathematicians John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz, operating a General Electric GE-225 mainframe, executed the first program in a language of their own devising: Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC). Designed as an interpreted language, it allowed programs to be written and executed line-by-line, an approach that resonated deeply with beginners. Two young men, Paul Allen, and Bill Gates, proposed to the maker of the first PC, Ed Roberts' Altair 8800, that they port BASIC to his computer.
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