MacBASIC

MacBASIC

Original author(s)	Donn Denman, Marianne Hsiung, Larry Kenyon, Bryan Stearns
Developer(s)	Apple Computer
Initial release	1985(1985)
Platform	Classic Mac OS
Type	Programming tools
License	Proprietary

Macintosh BASIC, orMacBASIC,was both a comprehensiveprogramming languageand a fully interactive development environment designed byApple Computerfor theoriginal Macintoshcomputer. It was developed by original Macintosh team member Donn Denman,with help from fellow Apple programmers Marianne Hsiung, Larry Kenyon, and Bryan Stearns,as part of the original Macintosh development effort starting in late 1981.Andy Hertzfeldsaid, "A BASIC interpreter would be important, to allow users to write their own programs. We decided we should write it ourselves, instead of relying on a third party, because it was important for the BASIC programs to be able to take advantage of the MacintoshUI,and we didn't trust a third party to 'get it' enough to do it right. "

MacBASIC was released asbeta softwarein 1985, and was adopted for use in places such as theDartmouth Collegecomputer science department, for use in an introductory programming course.In November 1985, Apple abruptly ended the project as part of a deal withMicrosoftto extend the license forBASICon theApple II.Although Apple retracted MacBASIC, unlicensed copies of the software and manual still circulated, but because MacBASIC was no longer supported by Apple and was not designed to be32-bit clean,interest eventually died out.

Benchmarks published in the April 1984 issue ofBYTEmagazine suggested that MacBASIC had better performance as compared to Microsoft'sMS BASIC for Macintosh.The language included modern looping control structures, user-defined functions, graphics, and access to theMacintosh Toolbox.The development environment supported multiple programs running simultaneously withsymbolic debuggingincluding breakpoints and single-step execution.