Editing BBC BASIC (section)

==History==

===Precursor languages===
At [[Dartmouth College]], two mathematics professors<ref>{{cite web |title=Event History |url=https://www.dartmouth.edu/basicfifty/events.html |publisher=Dartmouth College |access-date=7 January 2024}}</ref> wanted all students to be able to program on their new college computer. The existing high-level languages, like [[FORTRAN]] and [[COBOL]], were used by professionals and not really suitable for introductory programming by non-technical users. In 1964, they created [[Dartmouth BASIC]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Dartmouth College BASIC Instruction Manual |url=https://www.dartmouth.edu/basicfifty/basicmanual_1964.pdf |publisher=Dartmouth College |access-date=7 January 2024}}</ref> (short for '''B'''eginner’s '''A'''ll-Purpose '''S'''ymbolic '''I'''nstruction '''C'''ode) to be a computer language anyone could use. Having a formula-based [[syntactic]] structure, it is a simplified FORTRAN.<ref name=personal/>

A combination of factors led to BASIC becoming a major language in the late 1960s, and in the 1970s when the first [[microcomputer]]s were being built, it was already the ''de facto'' standard for small systems. The introduction of the [[Altair 8800]] cemented the position of BASIC as the first programming language introduced for the platform was [[Paul Allen]] and [[Bill Gates]]' [[Altair BASIC]]. As new micros were introduced, almost all of them ran some variation of BASIC as its primary interface.<ref name=personal>{{cite web |last1=McCracken |first1=Harry |title=Fifty years of BASIC, the programming language that made computers personal |url=https://time.com/69316/basic/ |access-date=7 January 2024 |date=29 April 2014}}</ref>

===BBC's involvement===

During the 1970s, the BBC Continuing Education Department was considering how advancements in computer related technology would impact British society. Their Microelectronics Report<ref name="Microelectronics_Report">{{cite web |title=Microelectronics Report |url=https://clp.bbcrewind.co.uk/media/BBC-Microelectronic-government-submission.pdf |publisher=BBC Continuing Education Department |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> in 1979 to the  [[Manpower Services Commission]] describes formally their concerns about increasing polarisation and alienation in the workplace.

The BBC required a [[microcomputer]] usable for demonstrations in their programming that could be purchased by the general public to enable the viewer to themselves experiment. They decided that such a microcomputer needed to be robust, have expansion capabilities and an implementation of BASIC compatible with [[BASIC A|Microsoft BASIC VN5]].<ref name="BBC_Microcomputer_Spec">{{cite web |title=BBC Microcomputer Specification |url=http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcbasic/beebspec.html |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref>

Jointly the government and the BBC established a public awareness and education campaign. This Computer Literacy Project (1980-1989)<ref name="Computer_Literacy_Project">{{cite web |title=Computer Literacy Project |url=https://clp.bbcrewind.co.uk/history |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> used the BBC's choice of the [[BBC Microcomputer]] produced by [[Acorn Computers Ltd]]. BBC BASIC was central to the user programming experience.

===Acorn's involvement===
Acorn first developed System BASIC and [[Atom BASIC]] for their early [[6502]] microprocessor computers<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ian Sinclair |title=Atomic Research |url=https://www.flaxcottage.com/ComputingToday/8104.pdf |publisher=Computing Today |access-date=21 January 2024 |pages=21–24 |date=April 1981}}</ref> that were sold to kit-build customers. With the development of the Proton as a [[Front-end processor]], Acorn were designing for more powerful computing.

In order to produce a computer to satisfy the BBC specification, the Proton became the BBC Microcomputer, usable as a stand alone computer. By retaining the capability to be connected to a [[Z80]] computer, Acorn was able to comply with the requirement of a computer supporting [[CP/M]].<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Micro ignites memories of revolution |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7307636.stm |publisher=BBC News |access-date=21 January 2024 |date=21 March 2008}}</ref>

[[Sophie Wilson]] developed the implementations of BASIC at Acorn.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Purdy |first=Kevin |date=2023-11-29 |title=BBC BASIC remains a remarkable learning tool, and now it's available everywhere |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/11/bbc-basic-keeps-evolving-and-now-you-can-run-it-on-nearly-any-platform/ |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref> The dialect on the BBC Microcomputer became compatible with Microsoft BASIC and so was acceptable to the BBC. It already had features from the ALGOL 60 group of computer languages that Wilson added to enable some structured programming methodology to be used.