Re: BASIC is still the best programming language!!!

Fred Williams wrote:
On Saturday 07 July 2007 18:06, Richard Heathfield wrote:


Jack Klein said:


On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 10:53:10 -0700, "Lucas J. Riesau"
<ion_sphere@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in comp.programming:


<snip>

There should be more BASIC versions and every PC should have
a BASIC installed on its HD. BASIC is the best!!!

Your tin foil hat is too tight.

*plonk*

Whoa, steady on, Jack - maybe he's right: anyone not capable of
implementing BASIC on their PC should not be allowed to use a
computer.

That would solve *so* many problems.


I leanred programming on a PDP/45 running RSTE and coding in BASIC,...
probably somewhat simpler than the BASICs that are likely around today. I became a Senior Systems Analyst writing scientific programs in
FORTRAN IV which wasn't that much different except for the syntax. BASIC was simpler and any dolt can learn to use it in a weekend, at
least in those days. It's logical and works exactly as the programmer
expects it to. Maybe that's why the OP likes it so much.
Then about 25 years ago I took a course in C and I've been trying ever
since to learn how to use "pointers." C is a weird twisted nightmare
and I struggle with it daily to get my own simple little programs to
compile. I hate it. Why would they take something as simple as
programming and make it so skitsy and complicated? Of course if we all used BASIC, then anybody could program computers
and programmers would loose their "genius mystique" status.



I am a hobby programmer who now uses C almost exclusively (I didn't struggle with pointers; I thought the concept was rather simple.). But I learned programming with the BASIC that was bundled with DOS 25 years ago.

There is a lot of irrational antipathy to modern BASICs that stem from the name itself (nobody wants to be associated with something intended for BEGINNERS) and from the fact that the most prevalent versions are Microsoft products. Of course, the more sophisticated you are about computers the more you hate MS.

Contemporary BASICs are perfectly good programming languages, well designed, well implemented and powerful. Consider the little known UBasic; you can do marvelous things with it.

JS
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Are children being taught to program computers today?
    ... We have a current culture that seems to encourage math- phobia ... A program of getting back to basics here has come to ... The point is that students are not really educated about computers, but educated to become blind users. ... It is very hard to do much with fractals unless you know at least the basic fundamental of computers and some programming. ...
    (sci.fractals)
  • Re: Flamewar _ DO NOT READ
    ... Without having to buy expensive development kits ... ... I think the point you were trying to make, and it may be a valid one, is that it's one of the last that comes with a programming environment *that's designed for ease of learning by beginning programmers*. ... BASICs, Logo, Smalltalks, and some of the Lisp derivatives provide that, and of those, Logo and some of the BASICs and Smalltalks are relatively easy to learn too. ... More commonly, it's the shell, Explorer, that gets into a wonky state and needs restarting, but you lose all your open-folder-window session state if you restart Explorer in any other way than by rebooting. ...
    (rec.games.roguelike.angband)
  • Re: With all do respect Gentlemen
    ... I have always been told that the only stupid question is the one you ... 1984 I started programming on my first IBM PC ... IT's not that your questions are stupid, it's that you obviously haven't even bothered looking at the manual to discover the very basics. ... If you really did teach yourself all those languages, then you should be at least starting with this one by making an effort to discover the very basic steps, before asking for help. ...
    (comp.lang.php)
  • No Starch Press releases--VB Express 2005: Now Playing
    ... Covers programming basics before diving into details, ... "VB Express 2005: Now Playing" ... write this book," said Bill Pollock, founder of No Starch Press. ...
    (comp.os.linux.announce)
  • Re: Newbie (Followup)
    ... level language (as I believe I will end up learning more). ... know a little bit including the basics of pointers, ... Alas I am forced to learn a "language" that deviates from even the most basic principles of programming (from what I have seen so far/ ...
    (comp.lang.c)