That was almost 50 years ago; since then, Microsoft has embraced open-source software. In recent years, Microsoft has started ...

Because BASIC is the first language that many computer scientists learn, it has been, for generations, a mother tongue of technologists.

This is why I’ve long argued that BASIC is the most consequential language in the history of computing. It’s a language for noobs, sure, but back then most everyone was a noob.

Long before the days of laptops and smartphones, Thomas E. Kurtz worked to give more students access to computers. That work helped propel generations into a new world. Kurtz has died at 96.

BBC Basic is still a fairly remarkable language, all these years later. It had 32-bit integers, arbitrary-length variable names, and was remarkably fast.

Because BASIC is the first language that many computer scientists learn, it has been, for generations, a mother tongue of technologists.