<s>
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
is	O
a	O
variant	O
of	O
the	O
BASIC	O
programming	O
language	O
descended	O
from	O
Dartmouth	O
BASICthe	O
original	O
BASIC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
traces	O
its	O
history	O
to	O
an	O
offshoot	O
of	O
Dartmouth	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
called	O
Structured	O
BASIC	O
,	O
or	O
SBASIC	O
for	O
short	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
released	O
sometime	O
in	O
1975	O
or	O
1976	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
not	O
installed	O
as	O
the	O
mainline	O
version	O
of	O
BASIC	O
on	O
the	O
Dartmouth	B-Operating_System
Time	I-Operating_System
Sharing	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
(	O
DTSS	O
)	O
that	O
supported	O
the	O
campus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
effort	O
initially	O
focused	O
on	O
a	O
system	O
known	O
as	O
Minimal	O
BASIC	O
that	O
was	O
similar	O
to	O
earliest	O
versions	O
of	O
Dartmouth	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
,	O
while	O
later	O
work	O
was	O
aimed	O
at	O
a	O
Full	O
BASIC	O
that	O
was	O
essentially	O
SBASIC	O
with	O
various	O
extensions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
,	O
tens	O
of	O
millions	O
of	O
home	O
computers	O
were	O
running	O
some	O
variation	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
,	O
which	O
had	O
become	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
became	O
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
based	O
on	O
Dartmouth	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
7	O
,	O
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
compiler	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
one	O
time	O
,	O
versions	O
for	O
TRS-80	B-Device
Color	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
,	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
computers	O
were	O
offered	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
UNIX	B-Application
command-line	O
compiler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Being	O
a	O
structured	B-Language
programming	I-Language
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
,	O
it	O
dispenses	O
with	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
line	B-Application
numbers	I-Application
and	O
GOTO	B-Application
statements	O
,	O
although	O
these	O
can	O
still	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
provides	O
statements	O
for	O
matrix	O
arithmetic	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
present	O
in	O
Dartmouth	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
since	O
early	O
times	O
,	O
but	O
had	O
been	O
dropped	O
in	O
almost	O
all	O
microcomputer	O
versions	O
of	O
BASIC	O
interpreters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
designers	O
wanted	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
language	O
hardware-independent	O
,	O
so	O
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
source	O
code	O
would	O
run	O
equally	O
well	O
on	O
any	O
version	O
of	O
their	O
compiler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
drawback	O
for	O
users	O
was	O
that	O
direct	O
access	O
to	O
some	O
features	O
of	O
their	O
machines	O
was	O
not	O
available	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
could	O
be	O
remedied	O
with	O
callable	O
functions	O
and	O
subroutines	O
specially	O
written	O
in	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
newer	O
versions	O
of	O
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
,	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
older	O
functions	O
are	O
blocked	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jerry	O
Pournelle	O
in	O
1985	O
asked	O
,	O
"	O
why	O
do	O
we	O
need	O
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
at	O
all	O
?	O
</s>
<s>
Pournelle	O
concluded	O
,	O
"	O
I	O
think	O
I	O
'll	O
pass	O
up	O
the	O
opportunity	O
to	O
become	O
a	O
born-again	O
True	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
believer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
I	O
'll	O
enjoy	O
my	O
Microsoft	B-Language
and	O
CBASIC	B-Language
heresies.	O
"	O
</s>
