These did not progress past a single freshman class. Kemeny and Kurtz had made two previous experiments with simplified languages, DARSIMCO (Dartmouth Simplified Code) and DOPE (Dartmouth Oversimplified Programming Experiment). Kemeny later noted that "Our vision was that every student on campus should have access to a computer, and any faculty member should be able to use a computer in the classroom whenever appropriate. Kurtz had joined the department in 1956, and from the 1960s Kemeny and Kurtz agreed on the need for programming literacy among students outside the traditional STEM fields. Sloan Foundation award for $500,000 to build a new department building. Based largely on his reputation as an innovator in math teaching, in 1959 the school won an Alfred P. Kemeny was the math department chairman at Dartmouth College. 4 Explosive growth: the home computer era.
This reignited use of the language and "VB" remains a major programming language in the forms of VBA and VB.NET. In 1991, Microsoft released Visual Basic, combining an updated version of BASIC with a visual forms builder.
These PCs almost always had a BASIC interpreter installed by default, often in the machine's firmware or sometimes on a ROM cartridge.īASIC declined in popularity in the 1990s, as more powerful microcomputers came to market and programming languages with advanced features (such as Pascal and C) became tenable. BASIC was available for almost any system of the era, and became the de facto programming language for home computer systems that emerged in the late 1970s.
Due to the tiny main memory available on these machines, often 4 KB, a variety of Tiny BASIC dialects was also created. The emergence of microcomputers in the mid-1970s led to the development of multiple BASIC dialects, including Microsoft BASIC in 1975. Many early video games trace their history to one of these versions of BASIC.
Hewlett-Packard produced an entire computer line for this method of operation, introducing the HP2000 series in the late 1960s and continuing sales into the 1980s. This general model became very popular on minicomputer systems like the PDP-11 and Data General Nova in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In addition to the program language, Kemeny and Kurtz developed the Dartmouth Time Sharing System (DTSS), which allowed multiple users to edit and run BASIC programs simultaneously on remote terminals. At the time, nearly all computers required writing custom software, which only scientists and mathematicians tended to learn. They wanted to enable students in non-scientific fields to use computers. The original version was created by John G.
Offers information on using the Visual Basic command-line compiler, the compiler options, and the Keyword Upgrade tool.BASIC ( Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. Provides reference information about various aspects of Visual Basic programming. Provides links to topics that introduce and discuss important features of Visual Basic, including LINQ and XML literals.Įxplains the interoperability issues associated with creating and using component object model (COM) objects with Visual Basic.
In This SectionĬontains documentation on the basic structure and code conventions of Visual Basic, such as naming conventions, comments in code, and limitations within Visual Basic. This guide describes all the major elements of programming with Visual Basic. As with any modern programming language, Visual Basic supports many common programming constructs and language elements.