BASIC /bay'-sic/ n.
A programming language, originally designed for Dartmouth's experimental timesharing system in the early 1960s, which for many years was the leading cause of brain damage in proto-hackers. Edsger W. Dijkstra observed in "Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective" that "It is practically impossible to teach good programming style to students that have had prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration." This is another case (like Pascal) of the cascading lossage that happens when a language deliberately designed as an educational toy gets taken too seriously. A novice can write short BASIC programs (on the order of 10-20 lines) very easily; writing anything longer (a) is very painful, and (b) encourages bad habits that will make it harder to use more powerful languages well. This wouldn't be so bad if historical accidents hadn't made BASIC so common on low-end micros in the 1980s. As it is, it probably ruined tens of thousands of potential wizards.
[1995: Some languages called `BASIC' aren't quite this nasty any more, having acquired Pascal- and C-like procedures and control structures and shed their line numbers. --ESR]
BASIC stands for "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code". Earlier versions of this entry claiming this was a later backronym were incorrect.
(From the on-line hacker Jargon File, version 4.3.1, 29 JUN 2001".)
(Mostly Trivial) Basic Programs
That said, below you will find some Basic programs I've written. Some have been compiled and are executables that should run in DOS or any version of Windows. The most recently posted programs will be at the top of the list, and previously posted ones will drop down the list. I will send the source code to any of the executable to anyone who is interested in seeing them.
Send requests to rkewen@netidea.com
This is program utilizing Basic's PALLETE statement. It could help wake you up in the morning or drive you crazy or blind. To stop this program press any key.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..........download crazyhi.zip (21KB)
Here's an executable screensaver type program written in Basic.
This version is compiled and compressed. This means you need to unzip it and then click on the .exe file to run it. To stop it push the esc key.
...........................download purps.zip (26KB)
I will be happy to e-mail the source code to anyone who would care to see it..
This file is another screensaver program with a little clock in the corner.
It is a .bas file so you need to run it in the Qbasic interpreter.
...........................download
eyeballs.bas
(2KB)
This is a Bach piece transcribed into Basic - kind of like a singing telephone. I'm putting this up for your amusement, Russell (aka Mr.Lee).
Once again this is an executable file that needs to be unzipped.
...........................download Bach - Prelude in C for the Well Tempered Clavier (32KB)
Again, I will send the source to anyone who is interested, though most of it is displayed on the screen as the phone is singing.
To quit programs
Purps and eyeball programs stop with esc. Bach will respond to Ctrl + break,
and will quit as soon as it finishes playing the current line of music.
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