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What Is Microsoft Basic (MS-BASIC)?

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Those were the days. And by "those", I mean 1975. That was when Microsoft Basic made its debut, and there's no way you could have known how it would change the world. It was a high-level programming language that helped developers create programs on Altair 8800 microcomputers. It was succeeded by Visual Basic and Small Basic and is now considered obsolete. Paul Allen and Bill Gates cofounded Microsoft in 1975, and it wasn't long before they had their first product released: Microsoft Basic (MS-BASIC). This program helped users create programs on Altair 8800 microcomputers using a high-level programming language named after the company: Microsoft. It's easy to forget that the company we know today had humble beginnings—and that's why we think it's important to remember what came before all of our favorite software! BASIC is a computer programming language initially developed by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, United States, in 1964. BASIC stood for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code and was designed to enable students without any prior programming experience to use computers to solve problems creatively. It was one of the first languages used on microcomputers and large mainframe computers. The first version of BASIC appeared in 1964; since then, it has undergone many changes and additions. Many versions of the language are now available, including Visual Basic (VB), which is widely used for developing Windows applications such as Microsoft Office programs or AutoCAD 2009. The original version of Altair Basic was only available for the Altair 8800, but later versions were released for other systems. These included BASIC-68 (6800), BASIC-69 (6809) and MOS Technology 6502-BASIC. Early computers often didn't have any ROM memory—and Visual Basic was ideal for such devices because it didn't require any code editors or linking—which saved space and memory!

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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.

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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).

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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.

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Trending Definitions

Seat Management

Seat management is the master of all workstations, keeping them all in line and ensuring they play nicely together. Think of it like a school principal, providing all the students (workstations) follow the rules and get their work done. Now, this is a challenging task. Seat management involves coordinating all the hardware and software that make up a workstation, from the keyboard and mouse to the operating system and applications. It's like conducting a symphony, ensuring each instrument (hardware and software component) is in tune and playing its part in the excellent performance. Like a good conductor, seat management also schedules regular maintenance and updates for all the workstations on the network. It ensures that everything runs smoothly and that each workstation is up-to-date with the latest technology and security patches. Seat management is about more than just managing hardware and software. It can also refer to a situation where an external contractor provides all the IT services for an organization. It's like having a fairy godmother who handles all your IT needs, from setting up your workstations to providing tech support and troubleshooting. This type of seat management can be especially beneficial for small businesses or organizations without their IT department. Instead of worrying about managing their technology, they can leave it all in the capable hands of an external contractor. Like a fairy godmother, the contractor will wave their magic wand (or technical skills) to ensure everything runs smoothly and everyone is happy. Now, we have thrown around a lot of technical keywords like hardware, software, and operating system. Don't worry; they're not as scary as they sound! Hardware refers to the physical components of a computer, like a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Software is the programs and applications that run on the computer, like Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. The operating system manages all a computer's other software and hardware components, like Windows or macOS. So, there you have it - seat management in a nutshell. Whether you think of it as a school principal, a symphony conductor, or a fairy godmother, the bottom line is that seat management is all about keeping workstations running smoothly and providing the support and updates they need to stay in top shape.

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Altair BASIC

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.

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Financial Products Markup Language (FpML)

Let's talk about Financial Products Markup Language, or FpML, in a way that's more exciting than watching paint dry. So, first things first. FpML is a language that allows different financial institutions to talk to each other in a way everyone can understand. Think of it like a universal translator for banks and other financial institutions. It helps them communicate with each other about financial products without getting lost in translation. Now, how does FpML work? Well, it's like a super-intelligent dictionary. It has a set of rules and guidelines that everyone who speaks the language has to follow. These rules are called "schemas" in technical terminology. They ensure that everyone speaks the same language and uses the exact words to describe things like bonds, derivatives, and other financial products. FpML helps banks and other financial institutions automate their communication with each other. They save time and money because they don't have to translate everything by hand. Plus, it reduces the risk of errors and misunderstandings because everyone speaks the same language. FpML is designed to be machine-readable. That means it's meant to be read by computers, not humans. So, it's written in a way that's easy for machines to understand. Don't worry; you don't have to be a computer whiz to use FpML. All you need to know is that it's a language that helps banks and other financial institutions to talk to each other about financial products in a way that's easy to understand. So, there you have it! FpML is a language that helps banks and other financial institutions communicate with each other about financial products without getting lost in translation. It's like a super-intelligent dictionary that everyone has to follow. Even though this is just an explanation of the term, you don't have to be a computer genius to use it.

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