Basic - VTech PreComputer Prestige Course Manual

CHAPTER 6 BASIC
INTRODUCTION
ARE COMPUTERS IMPORTANT?
Computers are all around us. Like cars, phones and TVs, computers help us make our
lives easier. Millions of computers are used everyday. Doctors use computers to treat
patients. Police use computers to track criminals. Stores use computers to add up prices
quickly and so on.
WHAT ARE COMPUTERS?
A computer is a tool that helps us to do things better and faster. They work without getting
tired. They operate at very high speeds. They follow instructions perfectly. And they never
forget, like we sometimes do.
The electronic computer has been around now since the late 1940's. The first ones were
huge electronic mazes of wires and tubes. They were so expensive so that only big
businesses and governments could afford to buy them and keep them running. The early
computers required large amounts of electrical energy to run them and generated vast
quantities of heat. More importantly they required a specialized team of experts called
programmers to tell them what to do.
This is a far cry from how we see a computer today. We see them mostly as watches,
calculators, microwave ovens, VCR's, phones, TV's, CD's, and personal computers. This
is a little different from the computers used in businesses which are larger and require
more space to operate.
People today generally work with a very small version of a computer called a microcomputer.
A microcomputer is a computing device where the central processor and memory(RAM)
are contained on a very small integrated circuit "chip" called a microprocessor. The central
processor is the device that performs arithmetic and makes decisions. The memory is where
information in the form of numbers and letters are stored. A microcomputer therefore contains
both a microprocessor and ways to communicate with the person using it.
All microcomputers have a keyboard for you to type in your instructions. This is called
"input". Some have individual keyboards, like a typewriter; others have plastic membranes,
like microwave ovens.
All microcomputers have a device which is used to communicate back to a person. This
is called "output". Some microcomputers use your TV set, while others require a special
type of display called a "monitor". Some use paper in a device called a "printer" and some
use a liquid crystal display(LCD) which is the same display that is used on some clocks
and watches.
WHAT IS BASIC?
BASIC is a computer language. The name BASIC stands for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic
Instruction Code. It was developed by professors at Dartmouth College in the mid-1960s.
It was designed for students who had no previous experience in programming computers.
28