MacBASIC
Encyclopedia
MacBASIC was developed by Donn Denmann, with help from Marianne Hsiung,
Larry Kenyon, and Bryan Stearns, all of Apple as part of the original Macintosh
development effort starting in 1982.
MacBASIC was released as Beta software
in 1985, and was gaining adoption in places like the Dartmouth College
Computer science
department, when it was killed as part of a deal with Microsoft
to extend the license for BASIC
on the Apple II
. Although MacBASIC was retracted by Apple, pirated copies of the software and manual were floating around for several years, but because MacBASIC was not supported and not designed to be 32-bit-clean, interest eventually died out.
MacBASIC was both a comprehensive programming language
and a fully interactive development environment which ran on the original Macintosh 128K
. Benchmarks published by BYTE Magazine suggested that MacBASIC had better performance as compared to Microsoft BASIC
. The language include modern looping control structures, user-define functions, graphics, and access to the Macintosh Toolbox
. The development environment supported multiple programs running simultaneously with symbolic debugging including breakpoints and single-step execution.
Larry Kenyon, and Bryan Stearns, all of Apple as part of the original Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
development effort starting in 1982.
MacBASIC was released as Beta software
Development stage
A software release life cycle refers to the phases of development and maturity for a piece of computer software—ranging from its initial development, to its eventual release, and updated versions of the released version to help improve software or fix bugs still present in the software.- Pre-alpha...
in 1985, and was gaining adoption in places like the Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
Computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
department, when it was killed as part of a deal with Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
to extend the license for BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
on the Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
. Although MacBASIC was retracted by Apple, pirated copies of the software and manual were floating around for several years, but because MacBASIC was not supported and not designed to be 32-bit-clean, interest eventually died out.
MacBASIC was both a comprehensive programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
and a fully interactive development environment which ran on the original Macintosh 128K
Macintosh 128K
The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...
. Benchmarks published by BYTE Magazine suggested that MacBASIC had better performance as compared to Microsoft BASIC
Microsoft BASIC
Microsoft BASIC was the foundation product of the Microsoft company. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first BASIC, and the first high level programming language available for the MITS Altair 8800 hobbyist microcomputer....
. The language include modern looping control structures, user-define functions, graphics, and access to the Macintosh Toolbox
Macintosh Toolbox
The Macintosh Toolbox is a set of application programming interfaces with a particular access mechanism. They implement many of the high-level features of the Mac OS. The Toolbox consists of a number of "managers," software components such as QuickDraw, responsible for drawing onscreen graphics,...
. The development environment supported multiple programs running simultaneously with symbolic debugging including breakpoints and single-step execution.