The Last One

[qbits]

A bit late I know, but Happy New Year.

AI & Program Generators when did they arise?

What the future might have held for BASIC and other programming languages! In the early 1980’s while across the world there was a concentrated effort to developing higher level computer coding languages, down in Somerset, England two enthusiast of evolving computer technology created a system to actually remove the need to write program code. Although the process built bug-free programmes in BASIC, there was no reason that it shouldn’t have been produced in other programming languages.

Promoted as a unique computer program in 1981 The Last One (All the Programs You’ll Ever Need), was not a programming language, but took input from a user in a logical sequence by selecting options from menus and used this to supposedly Generate a bug free program in BASIC. At any time, the user could chose to view a flow chart showing the programs design progress. This was at the time an example of a Program Generator that was thought would dramatically reduce the costs of programming.

Was this ‘A big idea struggling to get out" – or possibly one not fully formed or implemented? The principles maybe have been ‘Utopian’, or simply ‘Impossible’, or just it’s ‘time had not yet come’.

It’s most probable demise was due to an unsuccessful marketing strategy. That and if the code generated did not run, potentially hundreds of lines of unrefined BASIC to debug. At the End of the Day no Programmers jobs were lost, and the creation of more elegant coding continued…

QBITS

[vanpeebles]

Is this your next big project?

[qbits]

Actually I’d like to think I’m building a set of SBasic progs for my own interest of course to pursue gaming on the QL
next up is a QBITS Vector Design to follow the QBITS Bitmap Design. But it early days…

QBITS