<s>
BASIC-8	B-Language
,	O
is	O
a	O
BASIC	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
for	O
the	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
(	O
DEC	O
)	O
PDP-8	B-Device
series	O
minicomputers	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
BASIC	O
dialect	O
released	O
by	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
success	O
led	O
DEC	O
to	O
produce	O
new	O
BASICs	O
for	O
its	O
future	O
machines	O
,	O
notably	O
BASIC-PLUS	B-Language
for	O
the	O
PDP-11	B-Device
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DEC	O
's	O
adoption	O
of	O
BASIC	O
cemented	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
as	O
the	O
standard	O
educational	O
and	O
utility	O
programming	O
language	O
of	O
its	O
era	O
,	O
which	O
combined	O
with	O
its	O
small	O
system	O
requirements	O
,	O
made	O
BASIC	O
the	O
major	O
language	O
during	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
in	O
the	O
mid-1970s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
division	O
was	O
mostly	O
tasked	O
with	O
selling	O
the	O
PDP-8	B-Device
minicomputer	B-Architecture
to	O
high	O
schools	O
and	O
colleges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
were	O
not	O
yet	O
widespread	O
;	O
a	O
typical	O
single-user	O
machine	O
of	O
the	O
late	O
1960s	O
cost	O
in	O
the	O
order	O
of	O
$	O
10,000	O
(	O
)	O
,	O
not	O
including	O
mass	B-Device
storage	I-Device
and	O
other	O
peripherals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
this	O
time	O
,	O
both	O
Hewlett-Packard	O
(	O
HP	O
)	O
and	O
Honeywell	O
had	O
introduced	O
new	O
16-bit	B-Device
minicomputers	B-Architecture
with	O
time	B-General_Concept
sharing	I-General_Concept
that	O
were	O
becoming	O
popular	O
in	O
the	O
educational	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
HP	O
's	O
16-bit	B-Device
HP	B-Device
2100	I-Device
with	O
HP	B-Language
Time-Shared	I-Language
BASIC	I-Language
was	O
very	O
popular	O
leading	O
HP	O
to	O
package	O
it	O
as	O
the	O
HP2000	O
for	O
sales	O
into	O
the	O
programming	O
and	O
educational	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
HP2000	O
was	O
even	O
more	O
expensive	O
than	O
the	O
PDP-8	B-Device
,	O
by	O
sharing	O
access	O
among	O
many	O
users	O
,	O
typically	O
up	O
to	O
16	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
effective	O
cost	O
was	O
much	O
lower	O
than	O
single-user	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
DEC	O
was	O
heavily	O
promoting	O
their	O
own	O
language	O
for	O
educational	O
uses	O
,	O
FOCAL	B-Language
,	O
a	O
cut-down	O
version	O
of	O
JOSS	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
had	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
features	O
that	O
allowed	O
it	O
to	O
run	O
in	O
extremely	O
limited	O
memory	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
PDP-8	B-Device
'	O
s	O
4KB	O
of	O
core	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ahl	O
collected	O
FOCAL	B-Language
programs	O
submitted	O
from	O
users	O
and	O
published	O
them	O
in	O
the	O
department	O
's	O
EDU	O
newsletter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ahl	O
found	O
that	O
prospective	O
customers	O
were	O
not	O
interested	O
in	O
FOCAL	B-Language
,	O
at	O
least	O
outside	O
the	O
Boston-area	O
where	O
DEC	O
was	O
located	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
were	O
being	O
published	O
in	O
newsletter	O
format	O
,	O
almost	O
always	O
in	O
HP2000	O
dialect	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
sheer	O
volume	O
of	O
BASIC	O
programs	O
was	O
overwhelming	O
FOCAL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ahl	O
found	O
no	O
interest	O
on	O
the	O
part	O
DEC	O
management	O
or	O
software	O
development	O
department	O
to	O
produce	O
a	O
BASIC	O
,	O
nor	O
any	O
interest	O
in	O
supporting	O
FOCAL	B-Language
on	O
the	O
other	O
machines	O
in	O
their	O
lineup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Concluding	O
a	O
BASIC	O
was	O
required	O
for	O
the	O
PDP-8	B-Device
to	O
allow	O
it	O
to	O
compete	O
in	O
the	O
educational	O
market	O
,	O
he	O
hired	O
a	O
Brooklyn	O
area	O
programmer	O
to	O
develop	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
became	O
BASIC-8	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
aid	O
its	O
uptake	O
,	O
Ahl	O
personally	O
ported	O
over	O
several	O
popular	O
FOCAL	B-Language
programs	O
,	O
notably	O
the	O
games	O
Lunar	B-Application
Lander	I-Application
and	O
The	B-Application
Sumerian	I-Application
Game	I-Application
,	O
which	O
he	O
renamed	O
Hamurabi	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
BASIC-8	B-Language
was	O
an	O
immediate	O
best-seller	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
the	O
early	O
1970s	O
the	O
company	O
was	O
once	O
again	O
a	O
popular	O
choice	O
in	O
educational	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
DEC	O
continued	O
to	O
promote	O
FOCAL	B-Language
,	O
use	O
evaporated	O
almost	O
instantly	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
BASIC-8	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
DEC	O
would	O
ultimately	O
offer	O
five	O
different	O
BASICs	O
for	O
the	O
PDP-8	B-Device
,	O
each	O
one	O
making	O
up	O
for	O
limitations	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
minimal	O
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
PDP-11	B-Device
in	O
1970	O
,	O
an	O
entirely	O
new	O
and	O
greatly	O
expanded	O
dialect	O
was	O
offered	O
,	O
BASIC-PLUS	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
produced	O
two	O
small	O
prototype	O
computers	O
,	O
one	O
all-in-one	O
design	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
PDP-8	B-Device
,	O
and	O
a	O
slightly	O
larger	O
system	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
newer	O
PDP-11	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noting	O
a	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
newsletter	O
like	O
EDU	O
aimed	O
specifically	O
at	O
the	O
education	O
market	O
,	O
Ahl	O
soon	O
started	O
Creative	B-General_Concept
Computing	I-General_Concept
magazine	O
and	O
later	O
left	O
AT&T	O
to	O
produce	O
it	O
full-time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1975	O
he	O
purchased	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
101	O
BASIC	O
Games	O
from	O
DEC	O
and	O
re-launched	O
it	O
as	O
BASIC	B-Application
Computer	I-Application
Games	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
HP	O
's	O
dialect	O
formed	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
many	O
early	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
BASIC	O
implementations	O
,	O
including	O
Integer	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
and	O
Atari	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
among	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bill	O
Gates	O
had	O
used	O
BASIC-PLUS	B-Language
in	O
high	O
school	O
,	O
and	O
this	O
formed	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
what	O
became	O
Altair	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
in	O
1975	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Continued	O
development	O
and	O
sales	O
of	O
varieties	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
for	O
multiple	O
platforms	O
led	O
to	O
DEC	O
's	O
dialect	O
ultimately	O
becoming	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
on	O
home	O
computers	O
rather	O
than	O
HP	O
's	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
most	O
versions	O
of	O
BASIC	O
,	O
BASIC-8	B-Language
could	O
be	O
operated	O
in	O
"	O
immediate	O
mode	O
"	O
where	O
users	O
type	O
in	O
commands	O
and	O
immediately	O
receive	O
a	O
response	O
(	O
like	O
a	O
hand-held	O
calculator	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
in	O
"	O
deferred	O
mode	O
"	O
,	O
where	O
entries	O
were	O
stored	O
for	O
later	O
execution	O
using	O
the	O
command	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
BASIC-8	B-Language
the	O
line	O
numbers	O
could	O
range	O
from	O
1	O
to	O
2046	O
;	O
the	O
PDP-8	B-Device
was	O
a	O
12-bit	B-Device
machine	O
and	O
normally	O
held	O
a	O
value	O
from	O
−2048	O
to	O
+2047	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
word	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Standard	O
math	O
symbols	O
were	O
used	O
for	O
arithmetic	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
and	O
(	O
represented	O
on	O
a	O
Teletype	B-Application
Model	I-Application
33	I-Application
as	O
an	O
up-arrow	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
included	O
the	O
standard	O
functions	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
and	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
most	O
competing	O
minicomputer-based	O
systems	O
and	O
early	O
home	O
computers	O
,	O
where	O
BASIC	O
was	O
the	O
entire	O
environment	O
seen	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
BASIC-8	B-Language
was	O
one	O
of	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
programs	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
run	O
at	O
the	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
of	O
the	O
underlying	O
TSS/8	B-Operating_System
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
BASIC	O
programs	O
could	O
be	O
entered	O
by	O
starting	O
BASIC-8	B-Language
at	O
the	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
and	O
typing	O
,	O
or	O
by	O
starting	O
a	O
text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
like	O
EDIT-8	O
and	O
typing	O
in	O
the	O
code	O
as	O
a	O
text	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
deleted	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
lines	O
from	O
the	O
program	O
,	O
started	O
execution	O
,	O
and	O
exited	O
BASIC	O
and	O
returned	O
to	O
the	O
TSS/8	B-Operating_System
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
COMPILER	B-Language
was	O
not	O
a	O
compiler	B-Language
in	O
the	O
modern	O
sense	O
of	O
the	O
word	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
did	O
not	O
generate	O
lower-level	B-Language
language	I-Language
;	O
in	O
modern	O
terms	O
it	O
would	O
be	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
tokenizer	O
"	O
or	O
front-end	O
.	O
</s>
