BASIC
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Shneiderman's early acknowledgement that programs can be memorized is significant; his result, furthermore, shows that the memorization of programs relates to the memorization of language in some important ways. But there are differences between this study's perspective and the consideration of how BASIC one-liners are memorized. Memorization was used as a barometer of comprehension, the real focus of this research. Although it seems evident from these studies that memorization and comprehension are deeply connected, memorization is nevertheless being considered along the way to understanding something else. Shneiderman's study is about the short-term memorization of programs of about 20 lines, assigned as a task. Because short-term memory is the concern, Shneiderman cites the famous paper on the topic, Miller's 1956 "The magical number seven, plus or minus two," and discusses how his results may be consistent with the ones in that paper. | Shneiderman's early acknowledgement that programs can be memorized is significant; his result, furthermore, shows that the memorization of programs relates to the memorization of language in some important ways. But there are differences between this study's perspective and the consideration of how BASIC one-liners are memorized. Memorization was used as a barometer of comprehension, the real focus of this research. Although it seems evident from these studies that memorization and comprehension are deeply connected, memorization is nevertheless being considered along the way to understanding something else. Shneiderman's study is about the short-term memorization of programs of about 20 lines, assigned as a task. Because short-term memory is the concern, Shneiderman cites the famous paper on the topic, Miller's 1956 "The magical number seven, plus or minus two," and discusses how his results may be consistent with the ones in that paper. | ||
| − | 10 PRINT, in contradistinction, represents a category of programs that were historically memorized but which existing theories of program memorization, formulated for longer programs that model business processes, do not cover. The memorization of BASIC one-liners was rather long-term, done for fun, and of course involved very short programs. This type of memorization has certain things in common with the tasks done in these memorization studies, but it may also relate to the way people memorize jokes, proverbs, and other oral texts. These studies do at least show how people can remember key statements (beacons) and the high-level workings of a program without memorizing it character by character. Also, the appearance of program variants that work identically but are written differently is consistent with studies on and theories of program memorization. | + | 10 PRINT, in contradistinction, represents a category of programs that were historically memorized but that existing theories of program memorization, formulated for longer programs that model business processes, do not cover. The memorization of BASIC one-liners was rather long-term, done for fun, and of course involved very short programs. This type of memorization has certain things in common with the tasks done in these memorization studies, but it may also relate to the way people memorize jokes, proverbs, and other oral texts. These studies do at least show how people can remember key statements (beacons) and the high-level workings of a program without memorizing it character by character. Also, the appearance of program variants that work identically but are written differently is consistent with studies on and theories of program memorization. |
== A Personal Memory of 10 PRINT (Sidebar) == | == A Personal Memory of 10 PRINT (Sidebar) == | ||
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Alcock, Donald. ''Illustrating BASIC (A Simple Programming Language)''. Cambridge University Press, 1977. | Alcock, Donald. ''Illustrating BASIC (A Simple Programming Language)''. Cambridge University Press, 1977. | ||
| − | Bergin, Thomas J., ed. ''Fifty years of Army computing.'' U.S. Army Research Laboratory. 2000. | + | Bergin, Thomas J., ed. ''Fifty Years of Army Computing.'' U.S. Army Research Laboratory. 2000. |
| − | Brooks, Ruven. "Towards a theory of the comprehension of computer programs." International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 18. pp. 543-554. 1983. | + | Brooks, Ruven. "Towards a Theory of the Comprehension of Computer Programs." ''International Journal of Man-Machine Studies'' 18. pp. 543-554. 1983. |
| − | Campbell-Kelly, Martin and William Aspray. "Computer: A History Of The Information Machine." Basic Books. 1996. | + | Campbell-Kelly, Martin and William Aspray. "Computer: A History of The Information Machine." Basic Books. 1996. |
Commodore Business Machines. ''Commodore 64 User’s Guide.'' Commodore Business Machines. Distributed by Howard W. Sams & Co. 1982. | Commodore Business Machines. ''Commodore 64 User’s Guide.'' Commodore Business Machines. Distributed by Howard W. Sams & Co. 1982. | ||
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Driscoll, Kevin. "Revisiting Bill Gates' 'Open Letter to Hobbyists.'" Presentation at Media in Transition 7, MIT, Cambridge, MA. 14 May 2011. | Driscoll, Kevin. "Revisiting Bill Gates' 'Open Letter to Hobbyists.'" Presentation at Media in Transition 7, MIT, Cambridge, MA. 14 May 2011. | ||
| − | Evans, Davis S., Andrei Hagiu and Richard Schmalensee. ''Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries.'' MIT Press. 2006. | + | Evans, Davis S., Andrei Hagiu and Richard Schmalensee. ''Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries.'' Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 2006. |
Faison, Seth. "John Kemeny, 66, Computer Pioneer and Educator." ''The New York Times.'' 27 December 1992. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/27/us/john-kemeny-66-computer-pioneer-and-educator.html | Faison, Seth. "John Kemeny, 66, Computer Pioneer and Educator." ''The New York Times.'' 27 December 1992. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/27/us/john-kemeny-66-computer-pioneer-and-educator.html | ||
| − | Fuegi, John and Jo Francis. "Lovelace & Babbage and the Creation of the 1843 'Notes.'" ''IEEE Annals of the History of Computing,'' October-December 2003. pp. 16-26. | + | Fuegi, John and Jo Francis. "Lovelace & Babbage and the Creation of the 1843 'Notes.'" ''IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.'' October-December 2003. pp. 16-26. |
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Heim, Kristi. "Seattle man who helped launch Microsoft left $65M for gay rights." ''Seattle Times.'' 24 February 2008. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004197961_weiland24.html | Heim, Kristi. "Seattle man who helped launch Microsoft left $65M for gay rights." ''Seattle Times.'' 24 February 2008. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004197961_weiland24.html | ||
| − | Kemeny, John G. ''Man and the Computer.'' Simon Schuster. 1972. | + | Kemeny, John G. ''Man and the Computer.'' New York: Simon Schuster. 1972. |
| − | Kemeny, John G., and Thomas E. Kurtz. ''Back to BASIC: The History, Corruption, and Future of the Language.'' Addison-Wesley. 1985. | + | Kemeny, John G., and Thomas E. Kurtz. ''Back to BASIC: The History, Corruption, and Future of the Language.'' Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. 1985. |
Kurtz, Thomas E. "BASIC" [Interview], chapter 5 of ''Masterminds of Programming: Conversations with the Creators of Major Programming Languages,'' Eds. Federico Biancuzzi and Shane Warden, O'Reilly Media, 2009. | Kurtz, Thomas E. "BASIC" [Interview], chapter 5 of ''Masterminds of Programming: Conversations with the Creators of Major Programming Languages,'' Eds. Federico Biancuzzi and Shane Warden, O'Reilly Media, 2009. | ||
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Shneiderman, Ben. "Exploratory Experiments in Programmer Behavior." ''International Journal of Computer and Information Sciences'' 5:2, 1976, pp. 123-143. | Shneiderman, Ben. "Exploratory Experiments in Programmer Behavior." ''International Journal of Computer and Information Sciences'' 5:2, 1976, pp. 123-143. | ||
| − | Steil, Michael. "How many Commodore 64 computers were really sold?" ''pagetable.com.'' 1 February 2011. http://www.pagetable.com/?p=547 | + | Steil, Michael. "How Many Commodore 64 Computers Were Really Sold?" ''pagetable.com.'' 1 February 2011. http://www.pagetable.com/?p=547 |
Swaine, Michael. "Dr. Dobb's Journal @ 30.'' ''Dr. Dobb's: The World of Software Development.'' 1 January 2006. http://drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/184406378 | Swaine, Michael. "Dr. Dobb's Journal @ 30.'' ''Dr. Dobb's: The World of Software Development.'' 1 January 2006. http://drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/184406378 | ||
| − | Widenbeck, Susan. "Beacons in computer program comprehension." International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 25. pp. 697-709. 1986. | + | Widenbeck, Susan. "Beacons in Computer Program Comprehension." ''International Journal of Man-Machine Studies'' 25. pp. 697-709. 1986. |
