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copied!<p>At the risk of sounding like two old-timers on rocking chairs, let me grumpily say that "Kids today don't appreciate BASIC" and then paradoxically say "They don't know how good they've got it." </p> <p>BASICs greatest strength was <em>always</em> its comprehensibility. It was something that people could <em>get</em>. That was long ignored by academics and language developers. </p> <p>When you talk about wanting to implement BASIC, I assume you're not talking about line-numbered BASIC, but a structured form. The problem with that is that as soon as you start moving into structured programming -- functions, 'why <em>can't</em> I just GOTO that spot?', etc. -- it really becomes unclear what advantages, if any, BASIC would have over, say, Python.</p> <p>Additionally, one reason BASIC was "so easy to get right" was that in those days libraries weren't nearly as important as they are today. Libraries imply structured if not object-oriented programming, so again you're in a situation where a more modern dynamic scripting language "fits" the reality of what people do today better.</p> <p>If the real question is "well, I want to implement an interpreter and so it comes down to return on investment," then it becomes a problem of an grammar that's actually easy to implement. I'd suggest that BASIC doesn't really have that many advantages in that regard either (unless you really <em>do</em> return to line numbers and a very limited grammar). </p> <p>In short, I <em>don't</em> think you should invest your effort in a BASIC interpreter. </p>

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