 | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| First appeared | 1983 |
| Stable release | 3.23
/ 1988 |
| OS | DOS |
| License | Proprietary MIT License (v1.0)[1] |
| Influenced by | |
| IBM Cassette BASIC, IBM Disk BASIC, IBM BASICA | |
| Influenced | |
| QBasic, QuickBasic, MSX BASIC | |
GW-BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language developed by Microsoft from IBM BASICA. Functionally identical to BASICA, its BASIC interpreter is a fully self-contained executable and does not need the Cassette BASIC ROM found in the original. It was bundled with MS-DOS operating systems on IBM PC–compatibles by Microsoft.
The language is suitable for simple games, business programs and the like. Since it was included with most versions of MS-DOS, it was also a low-cost way for many aspiring programmers to learn the fundamentals of computer programming.[2][3] Microsoft also sold a BASIC compiler, BASCOM, compatible with GW-BASIC, for programs needing more speed.
According to Mark Jones Lorenzo, given the scope of the language, "GW-BASIC is arguably the ne plus ultra of Microsoft's family of line-numbered BASICs stretching back to Altair BASIC — and perhaps even of line-numbered BASIC in general."[4]
With the release of MS-DOS 5.0, GW-BASIC's place was taken by QBasic, a slightly abridged version of the interpreter part of the separately available QuickBASIC interpreter and compiler package.[5]
On May 21, 2020, Microsoft released the 8088 assembler source code for GW-BASIC 1.0 on GitHub under the MIT License.[1]
- ^ a b Turner, Rich. "Microsoft Open-Sources GW-BASIC". Windows Command Line. Microsoft. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ KindlyRat. "GW-BASIC". Archived from the original on 2005-07-26. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ^ Leon. "GWBASIC Games & Other Programs". Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ^ Lorenzo, Mark (2017). Endless Loop: The History of the BASIC Programming Language. Philadelphia: SE Books. p. 122. ISBN 978-1974-27707-0.
- ^ "Microsoft BASIC version information". Retrieved 2008-06-12.