The BASIC source code was fundamental to the early era of home computing as the foundation of many of Commodore's computers.

In 1977, Commodore licensed BASIC for $25,000 as a one-time payment, securing perpetual use without royalties.

Microsoft called the code—written by the company’s founder, Bill Gates, and its second-ever employee, Ric Weiland—”one of the ...

"Rick Weiland and I (Bill Gates) wrote the 6502 BASIC," Gates commented on the Page Table blog in 2010. "I put the WAIT ...

Microsoft open-sourced Bill Gates’ 1976 6502 BASIC interpreter, showcasing early programming features and its historical role in shaping personal computing.

That was almost 50 years ago; since then, Microsoft has embraced open-source software. In recent years, Microsoft has started releasing some of its classic operating systems and programs as open ...

Surely BASIC is properly obsolete by now, right? Perhaps not. In addition to inspiring a large part of home computing today, BASIC is still very much alive today, even outside of retro computing.