- Microsoft has launched 6,955 lines of basic assembly code of 1976
- Bill Gates and Ric Weiland adapted Basic for Mos 6502
- Comodore with Microsoft Basic license in 1977 for $ 25,000 worldwide
Almost half a century after Bill Gates began writing software that Microsoft would launch, the company has made that code public.
At the beginning of September, he placed the assembly source for his basic 6502 interpreter in Github, framing it as a historical milestone.
The launch is under the MIT license, which means that you can study, reuse or even sell freely.
Draw Basic from Altair to Comodoro
For a long time observers, the gesture feels like an act of preservation and a reminder of where Microsoft began.
The 6502 interpreter dates back to 1976, when Gates and the second employee of Microsoft, RIC Weiland, adapted the previous work in Basic for a new processor.
The adaptation was soon collected by Commodore, which authorized it for $ 25,000 in 1977 and sent it inside machines such as PET, Vic-20 and Commodore 64.
Millions of these systems ended in schools and homes, transporting Microsoft Basic to classrooms where personal computer science was still a novelty.
The code now published is version 1.1, which includes garbage collection corrections contributed jointly by Gates and Commodore Engineer John Feagans in 1978.
In the Comodoro pet, that update was known as Basic V2, a version that still remembered many early adopters.
In practical terms, Microsoft has opened 6,955 assembly language lines, complete with established confirmation time marks “48 years ago.”
Beyond nostalgia, the source also shows how the first performers were built to maximize scarce resources in 8 -bit machines.
Microsoft points out that the version shows “conditional compilation support for multiple pioneering computer systems”, including Apple II, Commodore PET, Ohio Scientific and Mos Technology Kim-1.
For historians and fans, the most interesting elements are the techniques that made the interpreter be used in restricted hardware.
Among them are “complete implementation of basic language”, “arithmetic floating point”, “rope manipulation and manipulation” and “matrix support”.
The code also shows the “efficient use of memory for 8 -bit systems” and introduces “chain garbage collection” and “storage of dynamic variables”, which gave Basic its reputation as a flexible language for beginners.
The notes that accompany the version affirm that Microsoft positioned basic “as a dominant force in personal computer software before MS-DOS or Windows.”
That is true, but omits the least flattering episodes that followed, such as the way the company built more with a great inspiration of CP/m or how the aggressive Windows license was later used against competitors.
Even with that context, the launch is still remarkable. It provides transparency in a program that shapes Microsoft’s first fortunes and defined how programming for beginners was seen in the late 1970s.
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