The BASIC programming language turns 60 Easy-to-use language that drove Apple, TRS-80, IBM, and Commodore PCs debuted in 1964.

SmileBASIC, the Nintendo 3DS application that lets users make games with BASIC programming language, is now on the Nintendo eShop.

This is why I’ve long argued that BASIC is the most consequential language in the history of computing. It’s a language for noobs, sure, but back then most everyone was a noob.

Once upon a time, knowing how to use a computer was virtually synonymous with knowing how to program one. And the thing that made it possible was a programming language called BASIC.

The combination of arithmetic and programming reminded me of my first encounter with coding back in elementary school, using the now-archaic BASIC programming language to write all kinds of ...

More information: Joan Arnedo-Moreno et al, Programming Fun (damentals): Using commercial video games to teach basic coding to adult learners, Entertainment Computing (2024).

The language that made that all possible. They called it the Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code— BASIC. Before BASIC, life in the computer programming world was complicated.

Black Annex may look complex to play, but just imagine programming it—with the ancient QBASIC language. One brave indie game developer did just that.

60 years ago, the inventors of the BASIC programming language actually achieved what they had hoped for: simple programming that is accessible to everyone.