<s>
Data	B-Language
General	I-Language
Business	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
was	O
a	O
BASIC	B-Language
interpreter	I-Language
(	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
version	O
from	O
MAI	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
Four	I-Language
)	O
marketed	O
by	O
Data	O
General	O
for	O
their	O
Nova	B-Device
minicomputer	B-Architecture
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Data	O
General	O
Eclipse	B-Device
MV	I-Device
and	O
AViiON	B-Device
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
business	O
applications	O
for	O
the	O
Nova	B-Device
were	O
developed	O
in	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
was	O
an	O
integer-only	O
language	O
inspired	O
by	O
COBOL	B-Application
,	O
and	O
contained	O
powerful	O
string-handling	O
functions	O
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
manipulate	O
indexed	O
files	O
very	O
quickly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
could	O
interface	O
to	O
Data	O
General	O
's	O
INFOS	O
II	O
database	B-Application
,	O
and	O
make	O
calls	O
directly	O
to	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
lock	O
server	O
gave	O
multiple	O
concurrent	B-License
users	I-License
efficient	O
access	O
to	O
database	B-Application
records	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Small	O
business	O
programs	O
could	O
be	O
developed	O
and	O
debugged	O
rapidly	O
with	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
because	O
of	O
the	O
interactive	O
nature	O
of	O
the	O
interpreter	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
language	O
did	O
not	O
provide	O
many	O
structured	B-Language
programming	I-Language
features	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
programs	O
grew	O
larger	O
,	O
maintenance	O
became	O
a	O
problem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
limited	O
memory	O
space	O
for	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
programs	O
on	O
the	O
Nova	B-Device
,	O
and	O
programmers	O
often	O
resorted	O
to	O
tricks	O
such	O
as	O
self-modifying	B-Application
programs	I-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
easy	O
to	O
program	O
in	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
,	O
but	O
complicated	O
to	O
debug	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
32-bit	O
(	O
and	O
so	O
each	O
integer	O
used	O
two	O
16-bit	B-Device
Nova	B-Device
words	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
early	O
competitor	O
to	O
Data	O
General	O
's	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
was	O
Bluebird	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
,	O
a	O
compiled	O
language	O
running	O
on	O
its	O
proprietary	B-Application
SuperDOS	O
(	O
Bluebird	O
)	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bluebird	O
's	O
Basic	B-Language
was	O
not	O
fully	O
compatible	O
with	O
Data	O
General	O
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
B32	B-Language
Business	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
was	O
a	O
highly	O
compatible	O
interpreter	O
which	O
ran	O
on	O
the	O
Eclipse	B-Device
MV	I-Device
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
lifted	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
Data	B-Language
General	I-Language
Business	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
constraints	O
,	O
and	O
ran	O
significantly	O
faster	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
full	O
power	O
of	O
the	O
32-bit	O
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
B32	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
later	O
to	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
allowing	O
Data	O
General	O
's	O
customers	O
to	O
readily	O
move	O
to	O
other	O
hardware	O
vendors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
B32	O
also	O
had	O
substantial	O
compatibility	O
with	O
Bluebird	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Transoft	O
produced	O
another	O
competitor	O
to	O
Data	O
General	O
's	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
,	O
Universal	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
UBB	O
ran	O
on	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
and	O
was	O
substantially	O
compatible	O
with	O
Data	O
General	O
's	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
General	O
ported	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
to	O
the	O
AViiON	B-Device
,	O
but	O
B32	O
and	O
UBB	O
were	O
already	O
available	O
on	O
that	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
General	O
's	O
programmers	O
did	O
have	O
one	O
major	O
success	O
on	O
the	O
AViiON	B-Device
when	O
they	O
unveiled	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
at	O
a	O
"	O
shootout	O
"	O
between	O
themselves	O
,	O
B32	O
and	O
UBB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
General	O
had	O
added	O
a	O
caching	O
mechanism	O
to	O
speed	O
up	O
their	O
Business	O
Basic	B-Language
's	O
disk	O
access	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
outperformed	O
the	O
other	O
companies	O
 '	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
