Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!microsoft!fredf
From: fredf@microsoft.UUCP (Fred FREELAND)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Protection mode in BASIC
Message-ID: <56293@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 3 Aug 90 22:22:27 GMT
References: <4020@sonata> <1990Jul31.124048.19015@druid.uucp>
Reply-To: fredf@microsoft.UUCP (Fred FREELAND)
Distribution: alt
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 65

In article <1990Jul31.124048.19015@druid.uucp> darcy@druid.uucp (D'Arcy J.M. Cain) writes:
>In article <4020@sonata> brianle@sonata ( ICCAD CO-OP) writes:
>First of all you should use comp.os.msdos.programmer.  It supercedes the alt
>group which should probably be removed by now.
>
>I can help you but first let me mount my soapbox.  If you are writing programs
>for commercial sale you shouldn't be using BASIC.  If not you still shouldn't
>be using BASIC for anything but quick and dirty stuff. 

What unmitigated crap! I hope someone kicks the slats out of your soapbox.
Who are you to tell this person they shouldn't be programming in BASIC? Do 
you also prescribe what religion people should be? It's the same kind of thing.
I am grievously offended by your comments.

Maybe GW-BASIC isn't the best program development environment in the world, but
if it gets the job done, who cares. If people buy his product, they must not
care. I get absolutely sick to death of these "programmer's" who believe that
C is the "one true faith." It simply ain't so!  BASIC has come a long ways
since the days of a 4K interpreter. It has evolved into a highly sophisticated,
modern, structured programming language. It's stupid comments like yours that
prevent many people from improving their productivity and improving their
products by doing things with BASIC that BASIC does well.  I wouldn't begin
to write screen drivers in BASIC, but I wouldn't do it in C either.  

In case you didn't know, there are literally thousands of professional 
developers out there in the world that are (perish the thought) writing 
commercially viable programs and applications using the Microsoft BASIC 
Professional Development System. If you haven't seen it, or haven't tried it,
don't knock it. It is a very powerful system. It is the absolute state
of the art for the BASIC language. It allows mixed language programming, use
of EMS, and a whole host of other very nice features.

Benchmarks are comparable to C and other "high-level" languages.

Yes, I know the "B" stands for Beginner's, but I assure you that this language
has evolved into a whole new beast. It is absolutely the easiest way to
develop really powerful, commercial-quality applications. If you don't believe
that, then I suggest you sneak (because you wouldn't want anyone to see you)
down to your neighborhood software store and get a copy of QuickBASIC. 
QuickBASIC 4.5 is the little brother of the BASIC PDS. It is almost as full-
featured by it's a fraction of the price.  If you don't want to spend your
money on such a primitive language as BASIC, give me a call. I'll send you
a working model for your evaluation.

By the way, in the not too distant past, there was a contest that matched
Bill Gates against some other heavyweights in the programming world. The
contest was to see who could write a mutually agreed upon application
in the shortest time. Guess what? Bill blew 'em away. The participants 
could use any tools, libraries and what not. Bill could only use BASIC.
That tell's me quite a bit.

So come out of the dark ages and recognize that the new class of BASIC is
not your father's BASIC.  This is hot stuff!

As you might expect, I work in the Microsoft Division that develops BASIC
products. I'm proud of that association and I'm excited about the potential
of our modern BASIC language. It really ticks me off when language snobs
eschew BASIC as being some lower form of life. In short, you simply don't
know what you're talking about.


-- 
Frederick F. Freeland Jr.                        "Of all the things I've lost,  Microsoft Corporation                               I miss my mind the most!"   One Microsoft Way  
Redmond, WA 98052 (206) 882-8080                                                                                                                                internet: fredf@,microsoft.beaver.washington.EDU                                arpanet:  fredf%microsoft@uw-beaver.ARPA
uucp:     uunet!microsoft!fredf                                                                                                                                 Opinions expressed over this signature are my OWN and not those of my employer!