On May 1st, 1964, the first BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) program ran successfully at Dartmouth College. This event marked a significant milestone in the history of computer programming and paved the way for the democratization of computing.
BASIC was developed by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz, two professors at Dartmouth College. Their goal was to create a simple, easy-to-learn programming language that would make computing accessible to a wider audience, particularly students who were not studying computer science.
The first BASIC program was run on a time-sharing system at Dartmouth, which allowed multiple users to access the computer simultaneously. This was a groundbreaking development at the time, as most computers were expensive and could only be used by one person at a time.
The success of BASIC quickly spread beyond Dartmouth. It became popular among hobbyists and educators, who appreciated its simplicity and versatility. Many early personal computers, such as the Altair 8800 and the Apple II, came with BASIC interpreters built-in, making it easy for users to learn and write their own programs.
BASIC's influence on the world of computing cannot be overstated. It inspired countless people to learn programming and helped to create a generation of software developers. Many of today's most successful tech entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, got their start with BASIC.
In honor of BASIC's birthday, let's write a short program that prints "Happy Birthday, BASIC!" to the screen:
10 PRINT "Happy Birthday, BASIC!"
20 END
RUN
Happy Birthday, BASIC!
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
