Once upon a time, knowing how to use a computer was virtually synonymous with knowing how to program one. And the thing that made it possible was a programming language called BASIC.

The language that made that all possible. They called it the Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code— BASIC. Before BASIC, life in the computer programming world was complicated.

50 years ago today, the BASIC computer language was born as two math professors from Dartmouth College used it to help run the school's computer system for the first time.

60 years ago, the inventors of the BASIC programming language actually achieved what they had hoped for: simple programming that is accessible to everyone.

The history of basic computer programming languages dates back far. Learn more about the BASIC & C coding languages that got everything started.

Thomas E. Kurtz, co-pioneer of the BASIC programming language, dies at 96. In the 1960s, he and John Kemeny developed BASIC and the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System, transforming computer access and ...