Why Python Is the Modern BASIC: A Historical Perspective

When it comes to programming languages, BASIC (Beginners' All‑purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is not the language I would choose today, even though its line numbers and single‑character identifiers were an innovation when it first appeared in the 1960s.

By its heyday in the late 1970s to early 1980s, developers had better options such as Pascal, Lisp, Forth, and even C, yet BASIC was everywhere, becoming the default interface on many vintage computers like the Commodore 64 because it was designed for anyone to use, not just experienced programmers.

Review of BASIC History

Origin

BASIC was created in 1963 at Dartmouth College by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz (see the memorial article for Thomas E. Kurtz).

If you are interested in its history, the podcast “The Birth of Computing” has an episode dedicated to BASIC.

Commodore BASIC

My personal story with BASIC began on my first computer, a Commodore 64, which booted directly into a BASIC environment. To run any program you had to type BASIC code, turning every user into a “hidden programmer.” I remember only simple programs like 10 PRINT "HAHA"; 20 GOTO 10, but I learned the basics of commands and quotation marks.

QBasic

Later, on an MS‑DOS machine, I used QBasic, a full‑featured development environment that became my first programming language. Although I hadn’t yet learned subroutines, I grasped conditionals, loops, and arrays.

BASIC fulfilled its mission: it enabled a non‑programmer like me to write simple programs without giving up on computers.

As a side note, I recently found an old double‑density floppy containing several QBasic programs I wrote around 1997; the code quality was low because I didn’t yet know about subroutines.

Back to Python

Pros and Cons

Honestly, I’m not a big fan of Python. While its indentation‑based block structure feels “elegant,” I find the syntax unattractive (e.g., formatted strings, the overloaded asterisk operator, and the ternary operator placed in the middle of expressions).

Python’s frequent breaking of backward compatibility and its massive package ecosystem also raise concerns about supply‑chain security.

Nevertheless, Python has many appealing qualities:

It is virtually everywhere.

It ships with a “batteries‑included” standard library.

It is simple to use for everyday tasks.

Python is far from perfect, but in many cases it is good enough.

Why Python Is the New BASIC?

Python has become the language of choice for non‑programmers, reaching a critical mass that mirrors BASIC’s dominance in its era.

Why do people gravitate toward Python? Several factors likely contribute:

When Python appeared, the world needed a more readable and less error‑prone scripting language than Perl.

Its indentation‑based block definition is perceived as elegant, even if I personally prefer Lisp.

The standard library provides most tools you need out of the box.

Python’s friendliness to mathematics has secured its place in physics, finance, and other research fields.

It borrows convenient features from more complex languages while remaining relatively simple.

No single large corporation has monopolized Python.

In short, a combination of clever design, community management, and a bit of luck propelled Python to its current status.

Evidence of Python’s Dominance

Even though I tried to avoid Python as an adult, I recently compromised and wrote a personal tool in Python because it offers everything I need and its ecosystem feels stable enough for long‑term use.

If someone like me, who generally dislikes Python, defaults to it, then Python has, like BASIC once did, taken over the world.

Finally, I ask: how long will Python’s reign continue?