In the late 1970s and early 1980s, BASIC continued its prominent role as a programming interface and quasi-operating system for popular home computers such as the Atari 800, TRS-80, Commodore VIC ...

But these days, only 4 percent of professional developers will admit to using BASIC. Me, when I started programming again in the 2010s—after a 25-year gap—I turned instead to newer languages ...

Since the 1960s, BASIC has introduced countless beginners to computer programming. Here's how the language got started, the paths it cleared for Windows and Apple, and where you can still find it ...