Kemeny & Kurtz wrote this book for use either as a textbook for an introductory course in BASIC programming or as a reference for self-study.

The book is divided into two parts. Part One introduces the reader to the basic ideas of programming, answering such questions as: "What is a Computer?" "What is a Program?" "What is BASIC?" "How is a Computer Used?" "What is Time Sharing?" Part One concludes with chapters on Loops, Lists, Tables, Functions, Subroutines, Strings, and Debugging. The chapters in Part One should be studied in their entirety in the order presented. There are helpful exercises at the end of each chapter.

Part Two introduces the reader to applications that are problem-solving in their presentation and development. These can be taken in any order. A good many of the applications are in the field of mathematics. For instance, there are problems from Elementary Mathematics (trigonomety, roots of equations, and curve plotting), Number Theory (factoring, modular arithmetic, and prime numbers), Simulation (random numbers, baseball, and Knight's Tour), Business (compound interest, tax depreciation, decision trees, and critical path analysis), Statistics (linear regression, contingency tables, and ranking procedures), Vectors and Matrices (the MAT instructions, electrical networks, and Markov Chains), and Calculus (polynomials, integration, Taylor's Approximation, and differential equations). At the end of each chapter in Part Two, there are both exercises and major projects.

Note. Kemeny & Kurtz are the Fathers of BASIC, having co-developed this programming language in 1964. ( )

This book was written for an introductory course in BASIC programming. Chapters 0-7 teach the fundamentals of programming and should be studied in sequence in their entirety before advancing to the rest of the book. Chapters 8-18 cover applications and, with two exceptions, can be used selectively in any order. (Chapter 14 uses files from Chapter 13 and Chapter 15 depends on Chapters 13 and 14). There are helpful exercises at the end of each chapter in Part One. There are both exercises and major projects at the end of each chapter in Part Two.

The Table of Contents in the Third Edition looks almost identical to the Table of Contents in BASIC Programming, Second Edition. The program listings and discussions, however, are quite different in the Third Edition, providing a much fuller treatment of the subject matter.

I adapted the database management system described in Chapter 15 to work with Radio Shack's Profile database management program for the TRS-80 Model I and Model III Microcomputers. My Sort/Select module and Report Generation module were much superior to the rather limited built-in capabilities of Profile.

I liked Chapter 12's compound interest solving program so much that I kept porting it through the years for use on newer hardware and newer operating systems. Now, three decades after Kemeny & Kurtz first introduced this little utility program, it is still the first thing I turn to when I am confronted with a compound interest problem to solve.

John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz were the inventors of the BASIC programming language. I learned much about BASIC programming simply by studying their techniques and algorithms. ( )