What Is Altair BASIC?

TechDogs Avatar

Altair BASIC is an interpreter for the BASIC programming language designed to run on the MITS Altair 8800 computer. It holds significant historical importance as the first product ever released by Microsoft, marking the beginning of the Microsoft BASIC product line. MITS distributed Altair BASIC under a contract with Microsoft. The MITS Altair 8800, introduced in 1975, was a groundbreaking computer that opened up a new world for technology enthusiasts. At the time, hobbyists interested in building their computers had to scrounge up parts from various electronic devices. The Altair 8800, however, provided a complete, powerful, and affordable solution. Recognizing the potential of software as an essential complement to hardware, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the founders of Microsoft, approached Ed Roberts, the founder of MITS, with their idea of developing an interpreter for the Altair 8800. They believed every computer owner would need software to fully utilize their machines. To develop Altair BASIC, Gates and Allen worked with an Intel 8080 emulator on a DEC PDP-10 machine. The emulator was originally written by Paul Allen and was modified to align with the specifications of the Altair. They also enlisted the help of Monte Davidoff, who was responsible for writing the floating-point arithmetic routines for the interpreter. In March 1975, Gates and Allen successfully demonstrated the Altair BASIC to Ed Roberts. Impressed by their work, Roberts agreed to license and distribute the interpreter. The initial release of Altair BASIC occurred on July 1, 1975, and it quickly gained popularity among Altair 8800 owners. Following the success of Altair BASIC, Microsoft was officially formed on April 4, 1975. The release of this interpreter laid the foundation for Microsoft's future ventures in the software industry, establishing them as prominent players. Altair BASIC was well-suited for the early personal computers, as it had a small footprint and could run on systems with limited processing power and memory. Its availability made programming more accessible to a wider audience, contributing to the growth and democratization of computing. In summary, Altair BASIC was the first product released by Microsoft and played a crucial role in the history of personal computing. Developed for the MITS Altair 8800, it was an interpreter for the BASIC programming language that enabled users to write and run programs on their computers. This milestone led to the establishment of Microsoft as a software company and marked the beginning of its influential journey in the technology industry.

TechDogs Logo

Related Terms by Software Development

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis is a lot like having the ability to discern minds, except it's done with computers. Opinion mining is a data mining subfield that utilizes unstructured text analysis to gauge consumer sentiment toward a brand, individual, or concept. Sentiment analysis is a technique for gleaning emotional data from online sources using NLP, computational linguistics, and text analysis. Social media sites and other online forums where users post their thoughts and observations on various subjects are familiar places to find this data. Sentiment analysis uses complex algorithms and machine learning methods to identify a person's opinion's positive, negative, or neutral nature. As a bonus, it can determine whether the text is joyful, sad, angry, or anxious, as well as other emotions. The results of this analysis can be used to calculate the extent to which the public approves or disapproves of various brands, individuals, and concepts. Knowing the thoughts and preferences of customers can be invaluable to companies and organizations. A business may employ mood analysis to monitor customer feedback via social media and use the results to improve its offerings. The material's polarity in its context can also be revealed through sentiment analysis. It can tell you how people feel about a subject or entity and what it is about that subject or entity that people like or dislike. Sentiment analysis can show, for instance, that consumers have a generally positive attitude toward a given brand but a negative attitude toward its customer service. To sum up, sentiment analysis is a subfield of data mining that assesses consumer reaction to a brand, individual, or concept by examining written language. It's like having the ability to read thoughts, only this time, and it's accomplished through complex mathematical formulas stored in a computer. Sentiment analysis, or opinion mining, is a method for gleaning and analyzing biased data from online sources, such as social media and blogs. Data analysis can reveal the contextual polarity of information and provide quantitative estimates of the public's feelings or responses to specific goods, people, or ideas.

...See More

Self-Provisioning

If you're like most people, you're always looking for ways to get out of work. So when we heard about self-provisioning—the ability to set up services and applications by yourself without the help of a dedicated IT specialist or service provider—we were all over it. It's like having your server, except that instead of having to buy your server, pay for its maintenance, and hire an IT person to manage it when things go wrong, you sign up with a cloud provider who has already done everything for you. Moreover, they'll even let you use their servers for free! So if you have ever wanted to launch your website but didn't want to take on the burden of managing it yourself, or if you've been dreaming of starting an online business but didn't want to spend all that money on servers and software licenses well, now's your chance! Self-provisioning is excellent, but the self-de-provisioning part is even more significant. Provisioning is like getting a massage—you know what you want and are in charge of getting it. Deprovisioning is like getting a haircut—it's a little more complicated than telling someone what to do. It requires much attention to detail and technical skill to ensure you're not cutting off any substantial parts of yourself in your zeal to be smooth and sleek. We don't want you to be soft and elegant! We want you to be well-groomed! So here are some tips for taking care of yourself by taking care of your resources. Always deprovision after using a resource so that others can use it when they need it later. Only do something once you've found another that does what that other one did for you (and then de-provision the old one).

...See More

Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)

Secure Hash Algorithm is a set of algorithms developed by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology and other government and private parties. Cryptographic hashes (or checksums) have been used for electronic signatures and file integrity for decades. However, these functions have evolved to address some of the cybersecurity challenges of the 21st century. The NIST has developed a set of secure hashing algorithms that act as a global framework for encryption and data management systems. The initial instance of the Secure hash Algorithm (SHA) was in 1993. It was a 16-bit hashing algorithm and is known as SHA-0. The successor to SHA-0, SHA-1, was released in 1995 and featured 32-bit hashing. Eventually, the next version of SHA was developed in 2002, and it is known as SHA-2. SHA-2 differs from its predecessors because it can generate hashes of different sizes. The whole family of secure hash algorithms goes by the name SHA. SHA-3, or Keccak or KECCAK, is a family of cryptographic hash functions designed by Guido Bertoni, Joan Daemen, Michaël Peeters, and Gilles Van Assche. SHA-3 competition to develop a new secure hash algorithm was held by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) in 2007. To be a super safe and fast hashing algorithm, SHA3 was developed from this contest. The evolution of cybersecurity has led to the development of several "secure hash algorithms." Security is a crucial concern for businesses and individuals in today's digital world. As a result, many types of encryption have been developed to protect data in various scenarios. One of these is hash algorithms. All secure hash algorithms are part of new encryption standards to keep sensitive data safe and prevent different types of attacks. These algorithms use advanced mathematical formulas so that anyone who tries to decode them will get an error message that they aren't expected in regular operation.

...See More

Trending Definitions

Boolean Expression

Now, let's get down to brass tacks. Any expression with only two possible values—true or false—is called a Boolean expression. Famous 19th-century mathematician George Boole is credited with developing the idea. You may ponder, "All right, but why bother with Boolean expressions?" In computer science and programming, they are invaluable because they allow us to direct the execution of code based on various variables. Consider the case where you are developing a program that requires users to enter their age. As an example of a valid Boolean expression, try age >= 18. In other words, if the user is 18 or older, the expression will evaluate as true, but otherwise, it will evaluate as false. This expression could then be used to determine whether or not a user is authorized to use a given feature of your software. Yes, but there's more! Furthermore, logical operators like AND, OR, and NOT can be used to combine Boolean expressions. We can use these operators to check for multiple conditions simultaneously to build more complex expressions. Example: using the AND operator to determine if a user is over 18 and has provided a valid email address: age >= 18 AND valid email == True. If both conditions hold, then this expression will be evaluated as true. Conversely, using the OR operator, we can see if either of the two conditions, age >= 18 OR has parental consent == True, holds true. If the user is at least 18 or has their parents' permission, this expression will evaluate as true. Last, we can invert an expression's truth value using the NOT operator, as in NOT (age >= 18). Unless the user is over 18, this expression will always return false. That's it; consider the matter settled. The ability to create complex logical conditions with only a few statements and operators is one of the many reasons why Boolean expressions are so helpful in computer programming. Understanding Boolean expressions will allow you to write better code, whether making a website, creating a game, or conducting research.

...See More

Hyperautomation

The term "hyperautomation" has been bandied around recently, and it certainly has a sci-fi ring. So don't fret; it's not as difficult as it seems! When many technologies, such as AI, ML, and RPA, are used to automate as many business activities as feasible, this is known as hyperautomation (RPA). Hyperautomation can be thought of as having a robot helper that can perform the mundane, repetitive jobs that no one enjoys. Data input, invoice processing, and inventory management are all examples of tasks that might drive a person to pull out their hair. As a result of automating them, you'll have more mental and physical resources for things like planning, creativity, and even napping (since self-care is essential, too)! Nevertheless, that's not all! Hyperautomation involves not only the automation of preexisting processes but also the development of brand-new ones. For the sake of argument, let's say that you own a restaurant and are considering providing delivery. With hyperautomation, you may build a specialized app for taking orders, send them to the kitchen via robotic process automation (RPA), and then have machine learning (ML) improve the cooking process and guarantee that each meal is delivered at the optimal moment. In conclusion, AI might be used to plan the most efficient routes for delivery drivers to take to get the food to the clients as soon as feasible. Just like that, you now have a completely new source of income thanks to hyperautomation! Sure, you might think, "this all sounds nice, but isn't hyperautomation rather pricey?" It could be, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. It's easy to find economical, readily adaptable, and readily available hyperautomation technologies and platforms. In addition, the return on investment (ROI) can be substantial; hyperautomation has been proven to cut operational expenses by as much as 90%. We would be negligent if We didn't discuss the potential drawbacks of hyperautomation. First, it can be a rude awakening for workers accustomed to the status quo. While planning to implement process automation, keeping employees informed and getting their input wherever possible is best. Furthermore, hyperautomation might give rise to unanticipated dangers, including cybersecurity and privacy issues. It is critical to partner with a reliable hyperautomation service provider that recognizes the gravity of these threats and has a solid security infrastructure. In conclusion, hyperautomation effectively allows firms to streamline processes, increase output, and maintain a competitive edge. This is more than simply a fad; it is the way of the future in the workplace. There's no reason not to welcome it with open arms (and robot hugs). Your workforce, clients, and the financial line will all be grateful.

...See More

Data Warehouse Appliance

Imagine this: you're throwing a large party, and all of your guests are starving, but you don't have a kitchen. What are you going to do? What do you do? The obvious solution is to bring in a food truck. To put it another way, a Data Warehouse Appliance (DWA) looks just like that. It's a complete data storage, management, and analysis solution. Bringing in additional suppliers or worrying about compatibility concerns is optional because the DWA has you covered in each area. Consider it similar to a food truck, but it provides equally delicious data instead of delectable meals. Like a food truck, the DWA can be set up quickly. You only need to plug it in, and you have a completely operational DW in your possession. The DWA is simple and easy to set up. Therefore, IT professionals are only sometimes needed. However, despite its small dimensions, the DWA packs a significant punch in its overall performance. It uses multi-core CPUs and SSDs to process data quickly. In-memory processing, columnar storage, and parallel processing ensure you quickly receive the answers you need. The most exciting thing is... the DWA was developed to have a scalable architecture. DWAs may grow with your business. You may begin with a tiny DWA, and as your data expands, upgrading to a bigger DWA suitable for your requirements will be simple. It's comparable to owning a food truck that has the potential to develop into a full-fledged restaurant as your company grows. Therefore, what kinds of information may be saved in a DWA? The opportunities are truly limitless! You may keep transactional data, like sales data, or you can store analytical data, such as customer behavior data. You can even store enormous amounts of data, like social media or unstructured data, like video and audio. Everything is within the DWA's capabilities. In addition, the DWA is not only a solution for storing data but also a solution for managing data. It provides you with all the tools you require to collect your data, such as data governance and metadata management. In addition, it protects the data you save using sophisticated safety measures, such as encryption and authorization controls. It interacts with your IT infrastructure, so you can use your existing tools to handle data.

...See More

Trending Articles

Join Our Newsletter

Get weekly news, engaging articles, and career tips-all free!

By subscribing to our newsletter, you're cool with our terms and conditions and agree to our Privacy Policy.

Home

Hot Topic: AI

News

Articles

Branded Insights

  • Dark
  • Light