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The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

devblogs.microsoft.com

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Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#101

Post by unnouinceput »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #71
ken wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one person working 8 hours a day, that's roughly one line of assembly language per minute. If you know assembly language, and you know the algorithms you're implementing, that doesn't seem especially fast.

You find me someone who can code assembly for 8 hours a day continuously for two months and I'll hire them on the spot.

There are plenty that do, especially in embedded. I did assembly at Siemens half the day (the other half was C) when I worked for Siemens VDO in 2005-2006. It's not that hard, especially if you do simple stuff, opposed to high algorithms I usually implement these days in higher programming languages.

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#102

Post by unnouinceput »

tomcam wrote: post #49
copperx wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny how stuff that got put together quickly like GW-BASIC and JavaScript got so much success because of luck and popular appeal. It's like music. The best music has never been in the top of the charts. The best movies have never won Oscars. This is pop computing.

Well, some of us think that acts like Kanye, Jay-Z, Amy Weinstein, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin were pretty great even though they had the crassness and audacity to make it to the top of the charts

Please don't mix Kanye and Jay-Z with Beatles and Led Zeppelin, they are in different leagues.

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#103

Post by ecpottinger »

weej wrote: post #97
wuxb wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wrote my first line of code on a game console without persistent storage. Coding is everything that makes computer a computer. Now, some kids in college have an impression that coding is less relevant for a CS career.

"Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." - Edsger Dijkstra

Yes, then I had a computer science student who lost three years of work because he never made a backup of the files on his mac computer.

Learning nothing but theory can come back to bite you some times.

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#104

Post by contextfree »

analog31 wrote: post #65
pknerd wrote: post #24

GWBasic was good resource to get into programming world during my teenage. Now I want to teach coding to my 10 years old son. Will you still recommend GWBASIC/Quick basic or Python or other languages for kids?

I learned BASIC as a kid (first on a mainframe terminal with line numbers), and use Python today. I think the language is not as important as other issues: 1. Computers are so much more advanced now, that the obvious gap between beginner and commercial software is vast. This can be discouraging. When I learned BASIC, I could write programs that didn't look any more crappy than typical commercial software, even if the…

thanks for the interesting & thoughtful view. I learned BASIC as a kid in the mid-eighties and already then felt a big obvious gap between what I could write in BASIC and commercial software like Nintendo NES games or even Commodore 64 games, that were written in assembly language.

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#105

Post by kranner »

pan69 wrote: post #100

--------- ---- -- ---- ----- --- ---- ----- COPYRIGHT 1975 BY BILL GATES AND PAUL ALLEN --------- ---- -- ---- ----- --- ---- ----- ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON THE PDP-10 FROM FEBRUARY 9 TO APRIL 9 1975 BILL GATES WROTE A LOT OF STUFF. PAUL ALLEN WROTE A LOT OF OTHER STUFF AND FAST CODE. MONTE DAVIDOFF WROTE THE MATH PACKAGE (F4I.MAC). I love comments like these. They also say that the GW refers to Bill Gates, as in Gates…

The meaning of "GW" is controversial according to the Wikipedia entry for GW-BASIC [1]:

> There are several theories on what the initials "GW" stand for. Greg Whitten, an early Microsoft employee who developed the standards in the company's BASIC compiler line, says Bill Gates picked the name GW-BASIC. Whitten refers to it as Gee-Whiz BASIC and is unsure if Gates named the program after him. The Microsoft User Manual from Microsoft Press also refers to it by this name.[citation needed] It may have also been nicknamed Gee-Whiz because of its numerous graphics commands. Other common theories as to the initials' origins include "Graphics and Windows", "Gates, William" (Microsoft's president at the time), or "Gates-Whitten" (the two main designers of the program).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GW-BASIC

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#106

Post by markandrewj »

linguae wrote: post #56

The funny thing about this announcement is that a week ago I just found my old QBASIC textbook that I learned how to program with back in 1998. QBASIC was my very first programming language; I was a nine year old kid who loved computers and would read anything computer-related that was available, including my mom's textbooks (she was returning to college at the time and took some courses on computing and applications…

I have a copy of the GW-Basic 3.2 user manual, and the MS-Dos 4.0 manual under my desk at the moment. I think they are still pretty common books, I mainly hold on to them for sentimental reasons.

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#107

Post by throw_away »

In 1988 or so, my dad bought us an 8088 IBM-PC for christmas. He used the gw-basic manuals to code in this christmas scene on boot with a santa, a tree, fireworks and even some christmas carol in chiptune in the background.

My dad was an autoworker. I've built foundational services and products now in the homes of 100s of millions & to this day I'm still astounded by what my old man pulled off.

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#108

Post by m463 »

pan69 wrote: post #100

--------- ---- -- ---- ----- --- ---- ----- COPYRIGHT 1975 BY BILL GATES AND PAUL ALLEN --------- ---- -- ---- ----- --- ---- ----- ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON THE PDP-10 FROM FEBRUARY 9 TO APRIL 9 1975 BILL GATES WROTE A LOT OF STUFF. PAUL ALLEN WROTE A LOT OF OTHER STUFF AND FAST CODE. MONTE DAVIDOFF WROTE THE MATH PACKAGE (F4I.MAC). I love comments like these. They also say that the GW refers to Bill Gates, as in Gates…

Another interesting project:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DONKEY.BAS

Re: The original source code of Microsoft GW-BASIC from 1983

#110

Post by cachvico »

pknerd wrote: post #24

GWBasic was good resource to get into programming world during my teenage. Now I want to teach coding to my 10 years old son. Will you still recommend GWBASIC/Quick basic or Python or other languages for kids?

Check out Scratch, from MIT.

https://scratch.mit.edu/

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