BASIC

[[deleted user]]

My first language! It is so easy to learn. Generations of programmers and non-programmers alike have learned this language. I give a lot of credit to BASIC for igniting my interest in computing.

However, this chapter read as if it were stuck in a time warp about 30 years ago. It seems so disconnected from today's team-based, large-scale development. There are many implications that BASIC could be used for much today. As an aside, it would be interesting to see a comparison of True BASIC with Visual BASIC.

While I think that there is some truth to Kurtz's assertion that OO was created by The Guild as a way of keeping outsiders out, by making things more complex than is often needed, I think that he goes overboard on his condemnation.

At last, a language author who doesn't claim that their language is concurrency/parallel/multicore ready!

And, a confession. Our high school had a Model 33 Teletype (with paper tape punch/reader) connected to a timesharing server somewhere, running BASIC. After learning about subroutines, I wondered what would happen if I did:

1 GOSUB 1

It crashed the system (the stack probably overran the OS). My first (and last!) Denial of Service attack.

[Erik]

It sounded like the code was compiled at runtime, which I thought was interesting. I think some web content is similar: ASP .NET and maybe others.

The line drawn between business and academic software was interesting. I agree with some of that, but I'm not sure it must be so black and white.

I'm not sure that debugging must be avoided at all costs in all cases. I often will run software hoping to observer bugs. Knowing the system and observing a bug helps me find and diagnose bugs faster than code inspection. Some bugs are not observable, so this is not always the case. Current debugging tools are advanced and help find the root of the bugs.

[[deleted user]]

If my memory is correct, the first BASIC was interpreted, and compiled versions came out later.

Many of the authors say or imply that they don't use debuggers... I fall in that camp, although it might be old guy inertia, without enough exposure to the latest debuggers, at play!