BASIC stands for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. It originally was a programming language aimed at beginners. However, it has gained popularity as a programming language in it's own right.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Easier to make games with than "harder" programming languages like C.

Cons

• Very often slower than "harder" programming languages like C.

BASIC History

BASIC was created at DartMouth College to help beginners learn how to program. This original form of BASIC is known today as Dartmouth BASIC to distinguish it from other forms of BASIC that followed later.

After being created, it quickly gained popularity on time sharing computers and from there became the primary language of classic home computers, of which many directly integrated it into the computer's operating system. Because BASIC was immediately available on these computers, it enjoyed a surge of popularity.

BASIC Dialects

A BASIC dialect or BASIC variant is a programming language based on the original Dartmouth BASIC, developed in 1964. Technically any form of BASIC that is not Dartmouth BASIC is a BASIC dialect.

Related Pages

• list of BASIC dialects - a list of all the BASICs in the world (not really)..

External BASIC Pages

• The BASIC's Page - a listing of tons of BASIC dialects.