Learn BASIC Now is a book series written by Michael Halvorson and David Rygmyr, published by Microsoft Press. The primers introduced computer programming concepts to students and self-taught learners who were interested in creating games and application programs for early personal computers, including IBM-PC compatible systems and the Apple Macintosh. Learn BASIC Now included three software disks containing the Microsoft QuickBASIC Interpreter 1.0 1989—later released as the ubiquitous Microsoft QBasic (1991-2000)—and the book’s sample programs. The books were influential in the popularization of the BASIC language and released during a significant growth phase of the personal computer industry when the installed base of BASIC programmers hit four million active users. Since the books were distributed by Microsoft Press and featured a robust, menu-driven programming environment, Learn BASIC Now became an important catalyst for the learn-to-program movement, a broad-based computer literacy initiative in the 1980s and 1990s that encouraged people of all ages to learn to write computer programs.
History
Early BASIC primers When programming languages appeared in the 1950s and 60s, most of the early learning resources or manuals assumed their readers were engineers, mathematicians, or experienced tinkerers. When John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz introduced Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) in 1963, they produced learning materials that described the language in a new way, emphasizing the language’s responsiveness and suitability for students. BASIC was quickly implemented on time-sharing services, minicomputers, and the first microcomputers, and technology enthusiasts worked to bring programming skills to people with little or no experience in computing. For example, Bob Albrecht, co-founder of the People’s Computer Company Newsletter, published a BASIC primer designed to make programming exciting and enriching. My Computer Likes Me When I Speak BASIC (1972) taught programming using step-by-step instructions and examples from everyday life. When Ted Nelson published Computer Lib/Dream Machines in 1974, he described computers as revolutionary devices that put the user in charge of their destiny. “The world is divided,” Nelson wrote, “into people who have written a program and people who have not.” Learning to program was described as a way to activate human agency and contribute to community solidarity. BASIC Computer Games, Microcomputer Edition (1978), by David Ahl, drew attention to the emerging PC platform and how BASIC could be used to create interesting games and puzzles that were exciting to build. BASIC programming instruction also appeared in popular magazines. For example, columnist Dian Crayne published program listings and design tips in PC Magazine, inviting readers to construct their own adventure-type games using BASIC and assembly language. BASIC dialects proliferated in the late-1980s, and software companies added an integrated development environment (IDE) and structured programming enhancements to their compilers and interpreters to attract more customers. Prominent examples included True BASIC (1985), Microsoft QuickBASIC (1985), Borland Turbo Basic (1987), and Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System (1989). Computer book publishers responded by publishing trade and academic books about BASIC and related products.
Microsoft Press Microsoft Press, the book publishing division of Microsoft, had a history of producing books about PC programming, including The Peter Norton Programmer’s Guide to the IBM PC (1985) and Ray Duncan’s Advanced MS-DOS (1986). When Microsoft released QuickBASIC 4.5 for MS-DOS in 1988, Microsoft Press asked permission to distribute a scaled-down version of the product with a new programming primer that could speed the adoption of QuickBASIC and attract new customers to personal computing. The book-and-software product would sell for $39.95 and provide all the resources that new users would need to learn modern, structured programming techniques on a DOS-based computer. Learn BASIC Now was written by Michael Halvorson and David Rygmyr, two Microsoft Press employees with experience in PC programming and technical writing. They completed the manuscript and MS-DOS sample programs over a period of five months in early 1989. The authors were assisted by staff editors Megan Sheppard and Dail Magee, Jr., and a team of artists, proofreaders, and compositors. The cover was designed by Greg Hickman, and the original illustrations were created by Becky Geisler-Johnson. The interior design featured multiple colors, original artwork, screen shots, and step-by-step programming instructions. Each lesson in the MS-DOS edition of the book included QuickBASIC programs that the reader could type in on their own or they could load the programs from 5.25” disks included with the package. The key feature that set the book apart from language references and other tutorials was that practice sessions were presented step by step using detailed instructions, keyboarding icons, a second color for user entry, and jargon-free terminology. These innovative elements were eventually transferred to the Step by Step book series published by Microsoft Press in the 1990s and 2000s.
QuickBASIC Interpreter QuickBASIC Interpreter 1.0 1989 was included with the Learn BASIC Now book and the combined product was a collaboration between two internal Microsoft groups. Microsoft Press (Learn ... Now book series) was the client that requested the QBI, and the Microsoft Languages Division (the developers of QuickBASIC) produced the software. QBI.exe was based on QuickBASIC 4.5's QB.exe but without the ability to create executable files on disk. It lacked interrupt handling and signal monitoring, and limited the user's program code and data to 160K only. It also included the QuickBASIC Advisor system (three digital Help files), as well as QB Express, a Computer Based Training program (LEARN). QuickBASIC Interpreter 1.0 1989 became the basis for the QBasic interpreter 1.0 1991. Both products presented the same IDE menus, the same language syntax, and the same execution limits. However, QBasic had a condensed Advisor (single help file) and lacked QB Express (LEARN).
QuickBASIC Interpreter Family Pedigree QBasic 1.0 1991 ← QuickBASIC Interpreter 1.0 1989 ← QuickBASIC 4.5 1988
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