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From: mykes@3comvax.UUCP (Mike Schwartz)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc,net.lang
Subject: Re: BASIC
Message-ID: <360@3comvax.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 18-Jan-86 01:19:55 EST
Article-I.D.: 3comvax.360
Posted: Sat Jan 18 01:19:55 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 20-Jan-86 02:37:27 EST
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Reply-To: mykes@3comvax.UUCP (Mike Schwartz)
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My $.02:

Microsoft Basic deserves a lot of credit.  Compiled Microsoft basic programs
can be run on all those millions of IBM PCs and clones.  Microsoft has had
many years to do their Basic, and have the technology down to the point
where an IBM AT running interpreted basic is fast, and compiled basic is
real fast.  Developing software using the interpretter is easy, and the
slow compilation process is removed from the edit-assemble-debug cycle.
Microsoft Basic is written in assembler, and has been refined over many
years, with the resources of Microsoft.  And there is a subset of Microsoft
basic that is portable among the IBM PC, APPLE II, COMMODORE 64, and a few
MILLION other computers that dominate the marketplace.  

Microsoft Basic isfar from being the operating system language by any
stretch of the imagination, but applications can be generated faster than
'C' applications, and by less skilled people.  Basic has many powerful
features and can be used by skilled people to do some pretty great things.