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CBASIC
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>BASIC-E was Eubank's master's thesis project.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> It was developed in <a href="/facts/PL/M/GaCkqILu">PL/M</a> by Eubanks for <a href="/facts/Gary_Kildall/yzxo0mLU">Gary Kildall</a>'s new CP/M operating system while both men were at the <a href="/facts/Naval_Postgraduate_School/K7CDD8XD">Naval Postgraduate School</a> in <a href="/facts/Monterey,_California/ssUz4gN8">Monterey, California</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> BASIC-E was based on a BASIC compiler originally written by Gary Kildall in 1974.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>Because it was developed at public expense, BASIC-E is in the <a href="/facts/Public_domain/YWKMDKw4">public domain</a> and cannot be marketed exclusively.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Seymour_Rubinstein/emvXSpag">Seymour Rubinstein</a>, the marketing director of <a href="/facts/IMSAI/zLkwNa0R">IMSAI</a> contacted Eubanks and asked him to create a saleable version under contract for the <a href="/facts/IMSAI_8080/9FcuwL0U">IMSAI 8080</a> <a href="/facts/Microcomputer/ETW22UTv">microcomputer</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> Eubanks developed CBASIC in his spare time while he was still a naval officer stationed on the submarine <a href="/facts/USS_George_Washington_(SSBN-598)/Xu6ytREY">USS <i>George Washington</i></a> at <a href="/facts/Vallejo,_California/a1WvLCHc">Vallejo, California</a>. He retained joint ownership of the program with IMSAI, and sold CB80 through his own company, <i><a href="/facts/Compiler_Systems_(company)/fvBMbbhe">Compiler Systems</a></i> until it was acquired by <a href="/facts/Digital_Research/9bYQl2pI">Digital Research</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> in 1981. </p> <ul><li>CBASIC COMPILER VER 2.07</li> <li>CRUN VER 2.38 / COPYRIGHT 1981 COMPILER SYSTEMS INC.</li></ul> <h2 id="features">Features</h2> <p>BASIC-E and early versions of CBASIC compiled <a href="/facts/Source_code/o9J6Jv23">source code</a> into an intermediate <a href="/facts/P-code_machine/zLuq653K">p-code</a> file, which was then executed by a separate <a href="/facts/Run-time_system/YmCuC4xP">run-time</a> interpreter program. CBASIC could execute in a minimum of 24 KB of memory. Line numbers in the program source were optional, unless needed as a label for a program jump. CBASIC proved very popular because it incorporated 14-digit <a href="/facts/Binary-coded_decimal/dWTaE7ES">binary-coded decimal</a> (BCD) math which eliminated <a href="/facts/MBASIC/Ac4zEe29">MBASIC</a>'s rounding errors that were sometimes troublesome for <a href="/facts/Accounting/sHznDY3V">accounting</a>. </p><p>CBASIC2 adds the following features: </p> <ul><li>Integer variables</li> <li>Chaining with common variables</li> <li>Additional pre-defined functions</li> <li><a href="/facts/Cross_reference/Fe1Bwq7c">Cross reference</a> capability</li></ul> <h2 id="reception">Reception</h2> <p><i><a href="/facts/InfoWorld/EJ0zA8FV">InfoWorld</a></i> in 1980 described CBASIC as the "primary language for the development of commercial CP/M applications", because of developers' widespread familiarity with BASIC and ability to distribute royalty-free binaries without source code to CBASIC owners. The magazine stated that the language had become popular "despite serious drawbacks", including the required <a href="/facts/Preprocessor/arTRL5RG">preprocessor</a> for interpreted source code making debugging difficult, slow speed, and incompatible changes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> Despite noting "irritants", <a href="/facts/Jerry_Pournelle/YjhS9sl6">Jerry Pournelle</a> in December 1980 praised CBASIC's design and documentation. He said that <a href="/facts/BASCOM_(Microsoft)/Ac4zEe29">BASCOM</a> produced much faster binaries without CBASIC's awkward edit-compile-run-debug loop, however.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> In May 1982 he said that "advantages abound" in CB80 compared to BASCOM, such as the ability to redimension arrays, and superior <a href="/facts/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)/j2vlIu7g">garbage collection</a>. Pournelle assured readers that the documentation was far superior to the usual Digital Research manuals. He denounced, however, the $2000 annual fee to sell software using CB80 as "sheer madness".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> In September 1982 Pournelle said that CB80 "remains a real competitor to <a href="/facts/Pascal_(language)/b3yvp8bF">Pascal</a> and <a href="/facts/PL/I/469mVYgd">PL/I</a> [with] few of the inherent defects of BASIC", citing its <a href="/facts/Local_variable/q8sIjyhx">local variables</a> and Pascal-like <a href="/facts/Function_(computer_science)/9vFJrg0A">functions</a>, and approved of its new, freer licensing.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> He said in May 1983 that Digital Research had "practically ruin[ed]" Eubanks' CBASIC manual after acquiring his company, but that the new edition was much better.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060824083542/http://www.cwheroes.org/archives/histories/Eubanks.pdf">Gordon Eubanks own story</a> of BASIC-E and CBASIC, Computer World oral history transcript, November 2000</li> <li><a href="http://www.znode51.de/pcwworld/l105/user_0/basicman.txt">BASIC-E Reference Manual</a> (December 1976)</li> <li><a href="http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/cbasic-m.pdf">CBASIC 2 Reference Manual</a> (Table of contents on p. 115) November 1981</li> <li><a href="http://www.vannattabros.com/history3.html">Another CBASIC description</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060504011043/http://www.computergenome.com/blastfromthepast/CBasic.asp">Alternate CBASIC history</a> at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a> (archived May 4, 2006)</li> <li><a href="http://people.freebsd.org/~julian/">cbc – a CBASIC to C converter</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.z80.eu/dos65.html">Interpreter in 6502 assembler</a></li> <li><a href="http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Comp/comp.os.cpm/2005-09/msg00146.html">CBASIC 2.8 = CBASIC-86 1.00</a> Posting by Emmanuel Roche</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Shustek, Len (August 2, 2016). "In His Own Words: Gary Kildall". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. <a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/" target="_blank">http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Kildall, Gary Arlen (August 2, 2016) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). "Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry" (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Retrieved November 17, 2016. <a href="/wiki/Gary_Kildall" target="_blank">/wiki/Gary_Kildall</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Shustek, Len (August 2, 2016). "In His Own Words: Gary Kildall". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. <a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/" target="_blank">http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Kildall, Gary Arlen (August 2, 2016) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). "Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry" (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Retrieved November 17, 2016. <a href="/wiki/Gary_Kildall" target="_blank">/wiki/Gary_Kildall</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Shustek, Len (August 2, 2016). "In His Own Words: Gary Kildall". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. <a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/" target="_blank">http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Kildall, Gary Arlen (August 2, 2016) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). "Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry" (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Retrieved November 17, 2016. <a href="/wiki/Gary_Kildall" target="_blank">/wiki/Gary_Kildall</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Shustek, Len (August 2, 2016). "In His Own Words: Gary Kildall". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. <a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/" target="_blank">http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Kildall, Gary Arlen (August 2, 2016) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). "Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry" (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Retrieved November 17, 2016. <a href="/wiki/Gary_Kildall" target="_blank">/wiki/Gary_Kildall</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Shustek, Len (August 2, 2016). "In His Own Words: Gary Kildall". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. <a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/" target="_blank">http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Kildall, Gary Arlen (August 2, 2016) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). "Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry" (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Retrieved November 17, 2016. <a href="/wiki/Gary_Kildall" target="_blank">/wiki/Gary_Kildall</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>CPM User Group The source code can be found on Volume 30 <a href="http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/cdrom/SIMTEL/CPMUG/00README.TXT" target="_blank">http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/cdrom/SIMTEL/CPMUG/00README.TXT</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Gordon Eubanks oral history transcript Archived August 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine p. 9, November 2000, Computerworld Honors Program <a href="http://www.cwheroes.org/archives/histories/Eubanks.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.cwheroes.org/archives/histories/Eubanks.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Pournelle, Jerry (May 1982). "Supercalc, Spelling Programs, BASIC Compilers, and Home-Grown Accounting". BYTE. p. 226. Retrieved December 28, 2024. <a href="https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-05_OCR/page/n227/mode/1up?view=theater" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-05_OCR/page/n227/mode/1up?view=theater</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Shustek, Len (August 2, 2016). "In His Own Words: Gary Kildall". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. <a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/" target="_blank">http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Kildall, Gary Arlen (August 2, 2016) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). "Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry" (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Retrieved November 17, 2016. <a href="/wiki/Gary_Kildall" target="_blank">/wiki/Gary_Kildall</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>"Editorial". InfoWorld. Vol. 2, no. 15. August 18, 1980. p. 8. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=az4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT47" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=az4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT47</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Pournelle, Jerry (December 1980). "BASIC, Computer Languages, and Computer Adventures". Byte. p. 222. Retrieved October 18, 2013. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1980-12/1980_12_BYTE_05-12_Adventure#page/n223/mode/2up" target="_blank">https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1980-12/1980_12_BYTE_05-12_Adventure#page/n223/mode/2up</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Pournelle, Jerry (May 1982). "Supercalc, Spelling Programs, BASIC Compilers, and Home-Grown Accounting". BYTE. p. 226. Retrieved December 28, 2024. <a href="https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-05_OCR/page/n227/mode/1up?view=theater" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-05_OCR/page/n227/mode/1up?view=theater</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Pournelle, Jerry (September 1982). "Letters, Pascal, CB/80, and Cardfile". BYTE. pp. 318–341. Retrieved December 30, 2024. <a href="https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-09/page/n314/mode/1up?view=theater" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-09/page/n314/mode/1up?view=theater</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Pournelle, Jerry (May 1983). "Ulterior Motives, Lobo, Buying Your First Computer, JRT Update". BYTE. Vol. 8, no. 5. pp. 298–324. <a href="/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle" target="_blank">/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>