<s>
GW-BASIC	B-Language
is	O
a	O
dialect	O
of	O
the	O
BASIC	O
programming	O
language	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
from	O
IBM	O
BASICA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Functionally	O
identical	O
to	O
BASICA	O
,	O
its	O
BASIC	B-Language
interpreter	I-Language
is	O
a	O
fully	O
self-contained	O
executable	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
need	O
the	O
Cassette	O
BASIC	O
ROM	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
original	O
IBM	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
bundled	O
with	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
on	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatibles	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
it	O
was	O
included	O
with	O
most	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
it	O
was	O
also	O
a	O
low-cost	O
way	O
for	O
many	O
aspiring	O
programmers	B-Application
to	O
learn	O
the	O
fundamentals	O
of	O
computer	B-General_Concept
programming	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
also	O
sold	O
a	O
BASIC	O
compiler	B-Language
,	O
BASCOM	O
,	O
compatible	O
with	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
,	O
for	O
programs	O
needing	O
more	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Mark	O
Jones	O
Lorenzo	O
,	O
given	O
the	O
scope	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
,	O
"	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
is	O
arguably	O
the	O
ne	O
plus	O
ultra	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
family	O
of	O
line-numbered	O
BASICs	O
stretching	O
back	O
to	O
Altair	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
and	O
perhaps	O
even	O
of	O
line-numbered	O
BASIC	O
in	O
general.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
5.0	O
,	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
'	O
s	O
place	O
was	O
taken	O
by	O
QBasic	B-Language
,	O
a	O
slightly	O
abridged	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
interpreter	B-Application
part	O
of	O
the	O
separately	O
available	O
QuickBASIC	B-Language
interpreter	B-Application
and	O
compiler	B-Language
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
21	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
the	O
8088	B-Language
assembler	I-Language
source	O
code	O
for	O
GW-BASIC1.0	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
under	O
the	B-License
MIT	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
BASICA	O
and	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
are	O
largely	O
ports	O
of	O
MBASIC	B-Language
version	O
5.x	O
,	O
but	O
with	O
added	O
features	O
specifically	O
for	O
the	O
IBMPC	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
features	O
of	O
BASIC-805.x	O
and	O
BASICA/GW	O
-BASIC	O
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ability	O
to	O
"	O
crunch	O
"	O
program	O
lines	O
by	O
omitting	O
spaces	O
,	O
a	O
common	O
feature	O
of	O
earlier	O
Microsoft	O
BASIC	O
implementations	O
,	O
was	O
removed	O
from	O
BASIC-805.x	O
and	O
BASICA/GWBASIC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BASIC-80	O
programs	O
not	O
using	O
PEEK/POKE	O
statements	O
run	O
under	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
feature	O
was	O
normally	O
not	O
enabled	O
and	O
required	O
the	O
optional	O
parameter	O
/D	O
at	O
startup	O
,	O
i.e.	O
,	O
GWBASIC	B-Language
/D	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
did	O
not	O
offer	O
a	O
generic	O
version	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
until	O
v3.20	O
in	O
1986	O
;	O
before	O
then	O
,	O
all	O
variants	O
of	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
were	O
OEM	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
OEM	O
,	O
BASIC	O
was	O
distributed	O
as	O
either	O
BASICA.EXE	O
or	O
GWBASIC.EXE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
AT&T	O
and	O
Tandy	O
versions	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
include	O
a	O
special	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
that	O
supports	O
their	O
enhanced	O
sound	O
and	O
graphics	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
version	O
of	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
is	O
the	O
one	O
included	O
with	O
Compaq	O
DOS	B-Device
1.13	O
,	O
released	O
with	O
the	O
Compaq	B-Device
Portable	I-Device
in	O
1983	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
analogous	O
to	O
IBM	O
BASICA	O
1.10	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
uses	O
the	O
CP/M	B-Application
-derived	O
file	O
control	O
blocks	O
for	O
disk	O
access	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
subdirectories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GW-BASIC	B-Language
3.20	O
(	O
1986	O
)	O
adds	O
EGA	B-Device
graphics	I-Device
support	O
(	O
no	O
version	O
of	O
BASICA	O
or	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
had	O
VGA	B-Protocol
support	O
)	O
and	O
is	O
the	O
last	O
major	O
new	O
version	O
released	O
before	O
it	O
was	O
superseded	O
by	O
QBasic	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Buyers	O
of	O
Hercules	B-Device
Graphics	I-Device
Cards	I-Device
received	O
a	O
special	O
version	O
of	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
on	O
the	O
card	O
's	O
utility	O
disk	O
that	O
is	O
called	O
HBASIC	O
,	O
which	O
adds	O
support	O
for	O
its	O
720×348	O
monochrome	O
graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
versions	O
of	O
BASICA/GW	O
-BASIC	O
do	O
not	O
support	O
Hercules	B-Device
graphics	I-Device
and	O
can	O
only	O
display	O
graphics	O
on	O
that	O
card	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
third-party	O
CGA	B-Device
emulation	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
SIMCGA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GW-BASIC	B-Language
has	O
a	O
command-line-based	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environment	I-Application
(	O
IDE	O
)	O
based	O
on	O
Dartmouth	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
includes	O
function	B-Application
key	I-Application
shortcuts	O
at	O
the	O
bottom	O
of	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
other	O
early	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
versions	O
of	O
BASIC	O
,	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
lacks	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
structures	O
needed	O
for	O
structured	B-Language
programming	I-Language
,	O
such	O
as	O
local	O
variables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GW-BASIC	B-Language
programs	O
executed	O
relatively	O
slowly	O
because	O
it	O
was	O
an	O
interpreted	B-Application
language	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
program	O
lines	O
must	O
be	O
numbered	O
;	O
all	O
non-numbered	O
lines	O
are	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
commands	O
in	O
direct	B-Application
mode	I-Application
to	O
be	O
executed	O
immediately	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Program	O
source	O
files	O
are	O
normally	O
saved	O
in	O
binary	O
compressed	O
format	O
with	O
tokens	O
replacing	O
keywords	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
option	O
to	O
save	O
in	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
text	I-Protocol
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
command-line	B-Application
environment	O
has	O
commands	O
to	O
RUN	O
,	O
LOAD	O
,	O
SAVE	O
,	O
LIST	O
the	O
current	O
program	O
,	O
or	O
quit	O
to	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
SYSTEM	I-General_Concept
;	O
these	O
commands	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
program	O
statements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
little	O
support	O
for	O
structured	B-Language
programming	I-Language
in	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
IF/THEN/ELSE	O
conditional	B-Language
statements	I-Language
must	O
be	O
written	O
on	O
one	O
line	O
,	O
although	O
WHILE/WEND	O
statements	O
may	O
group	O
multiple	O
lines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
default	O
type	O
for	O
undeclared	O
variables	O
not	O
identified	O
by	O
such	O
typing	O
statements	O
is	O
single-precision	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
(	O
32-bit	O
MBF	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GW-BASIC	B-Language
allows	O
use	O
of	O
joystick	B-Device
and	O
light	B-Device
pen	I-Device
input	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GW-BASIC	B-Language
can	O
read	O
from	O
and	O
write	O
to	O
files	O
and	O
COM	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
;	O
it	O
can	O
also	O
do	O
event	O
trapping	O
for	O
ports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GW-BASIC	B-Language
can	O
play	O
simple	O
music	O
using	O
the	O
PLAY	O
statement	O
,	O
needing	O
a	O
string	O
of	O
notes	O
represented	O
in	O
a	O
music	B-Application
macro	I-Application
language	I-Application
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
PLAY	O
"	O
edcdeeL2edfedL4c	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Greg	O
Whitten	O
,	O
an	O
early	O
Microsoft	O
employee	O
who	O
developed	O
the	O
standards	O
in	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
BASIC	O
compiler	B-Language
line	O
,	O
says	O
that	O
Bill	O
Gates	O
picked	O
the	O
name	O
GW-BASIC	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whitten	O
refers	O
to	O
it	O
as	O
Gee-Whiz	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
and	O
is	O
unsure	O
whether	O
Gates	O
named	O
the	O
program	O
after	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
