Editing Dartmouth BASIC (section)

==={{Anchor|ANSI BASIC}}ANSI BASIC, Eighth Edition=== <!-- Other articles link here. -->
By the early 1970s, the number of BASIC implementations had grown to dozens, all of which had their own changes to the basic concept introduced in the original version. Most of these were based on the Fifth Edition, although they often lacked the MAT instructions and the ability to indent code. GE was one of these companies; they released their Mark II systems with the 5th edition rather than waiting for the 6th to arrive a few months later.{{sfn|Marconi}} BASIC-PLUS on the DEC platform was perhaps the closest implementation, including the MAT commands for instance, but then added a number of changes that were not backward-compatible.<ref name=plus />

After the release of the 6th edition, Kurtz became involved in an effort to define a standard BASIC. An [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI) working group, X3J2, formed in January 1974, and a corresponding [[Ecma International|European Computer Manufacturers Association]] (ECMA) group, TC21, that September. The goal at that time was to produce two related standards. Minimal BASIC would be similar to the Second Edition, but adding strings, a standard to which practically every BASIC would already be able to conform. Standard BASIC would add more functionality to produce something more in keeping with the real BASIC varieties seen in the market.{{sfn|Marconi}}

The process was slow, and the first draft of Minimal BASIC was not published until January 1976, leading to it being officially adopted in December 1977 by ECMA, and 1979 by ANSI as X3.60-1978. Minimal BASIC was similar to the 3rd edition, including string variables, while lacking MAT and other advanced features.<ref>{{cite book |title=Minimal BASIC |date=January 1978 |publisher=ECMA |url=https://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST-WITHDRAWN/ECMA-55,%201st%20Edition,%20January%201978.pdf}}</ref> In contrast, Standard BASIC had many new features that did not exist in other BASICs, and many of these were poorly considered and the subject of some criticism. For instance, the standard included a line-continuation character, but chose the ampersand, {{key|&}}, which was also used for string concatenation. Using these in a single line could lead to very confusing code.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kurt |last=Guntheroth |title=The New ANSI BASIC Standard |date= July 1983 |volume=18 |issue=7 |doi=10.1145/988216.988221 |journal=ACM SIGPLAN Notices |pages=50–59|s2cid=31236801 }}</ref>

By this time, the release of the first [[microcomputer]] systems in 1975 had quickly led to the introduction of [[Altair BASIC]], the first version of what would soon be known as [[Microsoft BASIC]]. MS BASIC was patterned on BASIC-PLUS, and thus ultimately the Fifth Edition, but lacked indenting, MAT, and other features. It also added the <code>LEFT$</code> and <code>RIGHT$</code> functions, breaking the three-letter convention. As the number of microcomputers grew, and turned into the [[home computer]] market in the late 1970s, MS BASIC became the ''de facto'' standard.{{sfn|Marconi}}

With this rapid change in the market, the Standard BASIC effort slowed further and was not formally ratified until 1987 as X3.113-1987. By this time, there was no real purpose to the standards; not only was MS BASIC everywhere, but by the mid-1980s the use of BASIC was declining as shrinkwrap software took over from type-in programs. Both standards were eventually withdrawn.{{sfn|Marconi}}

In spite of the eventual failure of the ANSI efforts, the draft of Standard BASIC was implemented at Dartmouth as the Eighth Edition in 1982.{{sfn|Elliott|1988|p=135}}