Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

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Phil Beffrey

pretalx.northbaypython.org/nbpy-2024/talk/3YMHWY

Python is widely used as both a professional software engineering language,
and as a "learning" language that many programmers get started with. But in the
early days of computing there was BASIC, the Beginners All-purpose Symbolic
Instruction Code. BASIC's original developers, Kemeny and Kurtz at Dartmouth
University, created it as a language that all students, from every field could
use, and that led to its widespread adoption. It quickly become the de facto
home computer language, and was pre-installed on virtually all computers right
up through the year 2000.

We'll review the syntax similarities and differences between Python and BASIC,
compare the source code and execution of several identical programs written in
both languages, and discuss the implementation of their respective "compilers".
Maybe BASIC can still teach us, and future language designers, some lessons?

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Sun Jun 30 15:25:00 2024 at Reis River Ranch