Microsoft Open-Sources GW-BASIC Interpreter On GitHub

guest · May 22, 2020

Microsoft Open-Sources GW-BASIC Interpreter On GitHub
Experience the software development of ’70s and early ’80s with GW-BASIC!
May 22, 2020
https://fossbytes.com/microsoft-open-sources-gw-basic-interpreter/

Microsoft released the first version of GW-BASIC for the IBM PC on February 10th, 1983. Today, Microsoft has open-sourced GW-BASIC on GitHub.

For those who are unfamiliar with GW-BASIC, it is a variation of the BASIC programming language developed by Microsoft. It is similar to IBM’s BASICA language and but it is a self-contained executable. Unlike other BASIC derived languages, it doesn’t require the ROM BASIC.
After re-open-sourcing MS-DOS 1.25 & 2.0 on GitHub back in 2018, Microsoft also received numerous requests to open-source Microsoft BASIC.
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In a blog post announcing open-source codes for GW-BASIC, Microsoft writes:

“These sources, as clearly stated in the repo’s readme, are the 8088 assembly language sources from 10th Feb 1983, and are being open-sourced for historical reference and educational purposes. This means we will not be accepting PRs that modify the source in any way.”
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Microsoft: Microsoft Open-Sources GW-BASIC

Wait – where’s the C source code?
There is no C source code!
Like much software from the 70s and 80s, and just like the source for MS-DOS, the source code of GW-BASIC is 100% assembly language.
What about other ports?
Many have asked if we can also open-source implementations for processors other than the 808x. Alas, we’re unable to provide sources for these ports and/or customizations.
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy exploring this fascinating snapshot of what software development looked like during the glorious, exciting, heady days of the ’70s and early ’80s at the dawn of “the personal computer”
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Microsoft Open-Sources GW-BASIC Interpreter On GitHub

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