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Once upon a time there was a young sourcerer



I started programming in BASIC during the 1980s and in many ways, it represented the transition from the domain of specialists to a broader audience, including hobbyists, students, and business professionals.

BASIC's Accessibility: BASIC, an acronym for "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code," was designed to be a user-friendly programming language. In the 1980s, this accessibility was crucial. Unlike the more complex languages of the time, such as Fortran or COBOL, BASIC was easy to learn and use, making it popular in educational settings and among first-time computer users.

In Sweden, the Luxor ABC80 were introduced at some schools. My physics teacher was interested and got some for our school. To use them we had to do a course in digital circuits before we were allowed. I guess that was to filter out the students really interested.

The Rise of Personal Computing: The 1980s saw the rise of personal computers, and BASIC played a pivotal role in this revolution. Computers like the Apple II, Commodore 64, and various models from IBM often came with BASIC pre-installed. This ubiquity made BASIC a common first language for many aspiring programmers. I got a Sinclair ZX80, with predefined BASIC keywords on the keys. A computer that required assembly and soldering to get started.

Community and Culture: Programming in BASIC fostered a culture of sharing and experimentation. Magazines of the era, like Compute! and Byte, often featured BASIC code listings that readers could type into their computers. This culture not only made programming more accessible but also encouraged a generation of programmers to explore and innovate.

Limitations and Criticism: Despite its popularity, BASIC had limitations. These early versions had numbered lines to structure the program. To fork the code you jumped to a specific line number. Critics argued that it encouraged bad programming habits, such as the overuse of GOTO statements, which could lead to poorly structured and hard-to-maintain code. Moreover, as computing needs evolved, BASIC's simplicity became a hindrance for more complex programming tasks.

Legacy: The influence of BASIC in the 1980s cannot be overstated. It played a key role in demystifying computer programming, making it accessible to a broad audience. The skills and concepts learned through BASIC provided a foundation for many programmers who would later move on to more advanced languages and complex computing tasks. Even as newer, more powerful programming languages emerged, the ethos of accessibility and ease of use that characterized BASIC programming in the 1980s continues to influence software development today.

Imperative programming and beyond: These days all people started as imperative programmers. This blog will tell my journey from this to more modern paradigms, but also about how we work with code. How technology and culture cooperate in different eras. Finally I hope to bring some insights about benefits with different ways of working.

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