(Note: This post has been updated to remove irrelevant snark.)

As far as programming languages go, BASIC ("Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code") is... not a language I would choose today. Granted, when it was originally developed in the 60s, line numbers and single-character identifiers were an improvement. But in its heyday (which I'm going to claim, without evidence, was in the late 70s and early 80s), there were other options I like better (Pascal, Lisp, Forth, even C!). Yet, BASIC was everywhere! It was the interface for many old computers, like the Commodore 64. Why? I'd say (again, without evidence) it's because BASIC was designed to be usable by anyone--not just experienced programmers.

Today, there's a different language which enjoys a strong following, often as a first language. That language is Python.

Python is the new BASIC.

Back to BASIC

Background

BASIC was created at Dartmouth College in 1963 by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz (see In Memoriam: Thomas E. Kurtz, 1928–2024). If you want a historical account, there is an Advent of Computing podcast episode about BASIC that is excellent (as is the entire podcast).

Commodore BASIC

My personal history with BASIC goes back to the first computer I ever used, the Commodore 64. That computer booted directly into BASIC. Although I didn't realize it at the time, to launch programs, you had to type in BASIC code. Every user was secretly a programmer! I don't think I wrote any programs beyond 10 PRINT "HAHA"; 20 GOTO 10, but I suppose I at least learned about commands and quotation marks.

QBasic

At some point, I decided that I wanted to make a computer do whatever I wanted, so I needed to learn how to program. Fortunately, my MS-DOS computer included a development environment--impressively fully-featured, in retrospect--named QBasic. Yes, BASIC (specifically QBasic) was the first programming language I attempted to learn. I don't think I ever discovered subroutines in QBasic, but I did at least learn about conditionals, loops, and arrays.

Regardless, BASIC served its purpose. I, with no prior experience, learned how to write some simple programs without throwing up my hands in despair and swearing off computers forever. I guess I'm a BASIC success story!

As an aside, I recently found an old box of floppy disks, including one "double density" disk with my first name written on the label. That disk contained several programs I had written using QBasic, circa 1997. The code was... not good--again, I hadn't discovered subroutines yet.

Back to Python

Although not perfect, Python has a lot going for it:

• It's ubiquitous
• It comes with "batteries included", i.e. a comprehensive standard library
• It's simple (or, at least, you can pretend it is, for casual use)

Python is often good enough.

Why Python is the new BASIC

But why is Python the new BASIC? The answer is simple: Python is the new BASIC because Python is the language that new programmers always seem to use. It's reached critical mass. Python has won!

Of course, that is more of an observation than a reason. I honestly have no idea why people originally gravitated to Python (apologies for implying otherwise), but if I had to guess it would be some combination of the following:

• Python emerged when the world desperately needed a scripting language that was more approachable than Perl
• Python often includes everything you need, right in the standard library
• Python was math-friendly enough to gain a foothold in physics, finance, etc. research, thus broadening its ecosystem and influence
• Python smartly borrowed convenient features from more complex languages, while retaining a simple look
• Python was never owned by a litigious corporation

In other words: some combination of smart design, community management, and happenstance.

Definitive proof of Python's dominance

Despite preferred other programming languages for my entire adult life, I recently gave in and wrote a personal utility program in Python because I knew Python would have everything I needed and I had confidence that Python was entrenched enough that I'd still be able to use my program for the foreseeable future.

If even a Python-avoider like me defaults to using Python, then I think it's pretty clear that Python has taken over the world, just as BASIC once did.

One parting thought: how long will Python's reign last?