Microsoft Basic

Technology Dictionary -> Microsoft Basic

Search:

Microsoft Basic



(MS-BASIC) A dialect of BASIC from Microsoft, originally developed by Bill Gates in a garage back in the CP/M days. It was originally known as GWBasic, then QBASIC and finally MS-BASIC.

When the MS-DOS operating system came out, it incorporated the GWBASIC.EXE or BASICA.EXE interpreters. GWBASIC ("Gee Whiz") incorporated graphics and a screen editor and was compatible with earlier BASICs.

QBASIC was more sophisticated. Version 4.5 had a full screen editor, debugger and compiler. The compiler could also produce executable files but to run these a utility program (BRUN44.EXE) had to be present. Thus source code could be kept private.

From DOS 5.0 or 6.0 onward, MS-BASIC was standard.

Current version: 1.1, also produces stand-alone executables and can display graphics.

Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.lang.basic.misc.

[Relationship to BASIC in ROM on first IBM PC?]

(1995-05-12)