BASIC vs Python

[Adam DePrince]

On Thu, 2004-12-16 at 13:36, abisofile wrote:
> hi 
> 
> I'm new to programming.I've try a little BASIC so I want ask since 
> Python is also interpreted lang if it's similar to BASIC.

Nobody is answering this question because they are shuddering in fear
and revulsion. 

During the 1980's BASIC was the language to embedd into the ROM's of the
computers of the day.   This was in a misguided effort to make computers
understandable to their target audience.  The goal of the day was to
build a system that a manager would want to buy; it was believed that
the only way for a manager to see the value of a system was to make the
language understandable to said manager.  The expectation, of course,
that the manager would sit down and play with the computer instead of
delegating the tasks to somebody more qualified is somewhat misguided in
hindsight.  To do that, a language that closely resembled the process of
micromanaging an untrained worker was employed.

In BASIC you literally list the steps the computer will follow.  Each
step gets a line number.  Decisions are controlled by jumping to
different "line numbers."  No where in the language was there any notion
of or ability to make your program remotely abstract.  You know those
jokes on slashdot.org that read:

1. Do something
2. Do something else
3. Wash 
4. Repeat (goto step #1) 

That is BASIC in a nut shell.   Sure, modern versions have gotten a
little better, dispensing of evils such as line numbers and the like,
but they are only marginally better.

Each language carries with it a philosophy.  BASIC stands alone in being
so utterly perverse that learning it will render you completely
unmarketable, except as a basic programmer, as you unlearn its
limitations and learn how to think in the abstractions of every other
language.  

If you want to learn how to program, Python is a good start.  IIRC,
Python started its life as ABC, a language designed specifically as an
educational language.  In this sense alone it is similar to BASIC, but
this is where any similarity ends.

Perhaps I can best illustrate the difference between the two with an
analogy.  Suppose you came to me and asked which was a better way of
learning a foreign language, the python way or the BASIC way.  

The Python way would be how a language is taught in any normal class you
might find at a local college.  You learn the vocabulary, grammar,
history and culture of the language.

Now let us provide a contrast.  Imagine you are in a class and the
teacher only teaches you curse words.  You learn no grammar, no history,
no culture.  At best, you have only the slightest idea of what kind of
curse word each is (scatological, sexual, religious, etc.)  But you are
forced to memorize the same list of curse words over and over again in
order.  This is the BASIC way of learning to program.  

Don't do it, unless your goal is simply to embarrass and insult 
programmers.  



Adam DePrince