Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

[ben]

On 5/26/2020 1:35 PM, Eric Smith via cctalk wrote:

> "did O/S's change" in what way?

You had ample memory to run your programs without swapping
providing only a few users were online.

> The IBM PL/I F compiler was available in 1966 and PL/I has structures. It
> was usable on all "real" System/360 machines configured with 64KB or more
> of memory, so even a 360/30 could be used, but not a 360/20, which isn't
> actually a 360.
> 
> There was a PL/I D compiler that would run under DOS/360 with only 16KB of
> memory, but it was a very restricted subset of PL/I; I dodn't know whether
> it had structures.
> 
> ALGOL W also appeared in 1966 and had structures, known as records.

Algol W was from Eroupe?

> Of course, COBOL is even older and also had structures.


Not everybody had access to power computing, some had to make do with
a PDP 7 and write Unix.


> Most sensible people did not wait until 1975 to start using high-level
> languages, unless they had either tiny machines or real-time requirements
> that couldn't be met with a high-level language.
> 

Basic fit on the TINY MACHINES, and few made $$$
selling BASIC. You still can't get a free copy of BASIC for your 8080.

Ben.
Ps Writing my own language Bengol, a boot strap language written in C . 
I expect it to be about 32KB with a 16Kb O/S. The FPGA card
gives me 256KB ram so I feel the homebrew cpu can compete with a basic 
PDP-11 in 1976. (.7 us (300 ns dram) memory cycle, 2 8" DSSD
floppies, 2400 baud terminal +48KB memory.