The History of the BASIC Programming Language

The History of the BASIC Programming Language In the 1960s, computers ran on gigantic mainframe machines, requiring their special rooms with powerful air-conditioning to keep them cool. The mainframes received their instructions from punch cards by computer operators, and any instructions given to a mainframe required writing a new piece of software, which was the realm of mathematicians and nascent computer scientists.   BASIC, a computer language written at Dartmouth college in 1963, would change that. Beginnings of BASIC The language BASIC was an acronym for Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. It was developed by Dartmouth mathematicians John George Kemeny and Tom Kurtzas as a teaching tool for undergraduates. BASIC was intended to be a computer language for generalists to use to unlock the power of the computer in business and other realms of academia. BASIC was traditionally one of the most commonly used computer programming languages, considered an easy step for students to learn before more powerful languages such as FORTRAN. Until very recently, BASIC (in the form of Visual BASIC and Visual BASIC .NET) was the most widely known computer language among developers. The Spread of BASIC The advent of the personal computer was crucial to the success of BASIC. The language was designed for hobbyists, and as computers became more accessible to this audience, books of BASIC programs and BASIC games surged in popularity. In 1975, Paul Allen and Bill Gates, the founding fathers of Microsoft,) wrote a version of BASIC for the Altair personal computer. It was the first product Microsoft sold. Later Gates and Microsoft wrote versions of BASIC for the Apple computer, and IBMs DOS which Gates provided came with its version of BASIC. The Decline and Rebirth of BASIC By the mid-1980s, the mania for programming personal computers had subsided in the wake of running professional software created by others. Developers also had more options, such as the new computer languages of C and C. But the introduction of Visual Basic, written by Microsoft, in 1991, changed that. VB was based on BASIC and relied on some of its commands and structure, and proved valuable in many small business applications. BASIC .NET, released by Microsoft in 2001, matched the functionality of Java and C# with the syntax of BASIC. List of BASIC Commands Here are some of the commands associated with the earliest BASIC languages developed at Dartmouth:   Ã‚  HELLO - log inBYE - log offBASIC - start BASIC modeNEW - name and begin writing a programOLD - retrieve a previously named program from permanent storageLIST - display the current programSAVE - save the current program in permanent storageUNSAVE - clear the current program from permanent storageCATALOG - display the names of programs in permanent storageSCRATCH - erase the current program without clearing its nameRENAME - change the name of the current program without erasing itRUN - execute the current programsSTOP - interrupt the currently running program

Developing Leadership Capacities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Developing Leadership Capacities - Essay Example an seeing the leader as a co-equal of followers Transformational Theory Gives emphasis on the role of leadership in initiating and implementing change Attaches too much importance to the leader as a catalyst of change rather than to all the stakeholders as creators and performers of change Applying Theory U to Cross-Functional Team Leadership One theory of leadership which can help leaders positively transform cross-functional teams is theory U. The first step, going down the U’s left part, is referred to as ‘sensing’ or building up a perceived image of the organization’s present reality that should be understood and transformed (Scharmer, 2009). In a cross-functional team, it is important to develop highly committed members. ... The important questions to answer are: (1) what the team desires to create, (2) why it is important, (3) how to accomplish this, (4) who is responsible, and (5) when and where to perform this. By employing ‘sensing’, the leader of a cross-functional team is able to achieve its goal of improving service to key customers by (Kahane, 2010): (1) discovering shared ideas and perspective by sharing the story and situation that brought highly diverse people together in one team; (2) motivating and being an inspiration to the team; (3) training in deep-dive (‘do what you love, love what you do’ principle) processes and discussion interviews; (4) recognizing key stakeholders that have to be visited and known. Apparently, when relating to the team and the environment, a leader should set in motion and bring in the ‘four channels of listening’: â€Å"(1) listening from what you know, (2) from what surprises you, (3) from empathizing with the interviewee, and (4) listening from her or his authentic source or highest future possibility† (Anonymous, 2012, p. 10). Through ‘sensing’, a leader will be able to uncover the highest potential of every member of the cross-functional team with an open heart and mind. The second step is ‘presencing’, or a more profound understanding of one’s duty and function in the organization; after profoundly engrossing oneself in the perspectives and situations that are appropriate to a setting and its greatest future prospect, ‘presencing’ concentrates on tapping on a more profound source of understanding (Scharmer, 2009). In order for a leader of a cross-functional team to carry out the ‘presencing’ step successfully s/he should form circles where in s/he commits one

I want you to choose a topic from the readings Essay

I want you to choose a topic from the readings - Essay Example Sarah sparks is talking about entitlement in students and further explains some of the different scenarios that irritate students leading to aggravation. Students according to a research by Tracey Zinn, a psychology associate professor, show that teachers may be unintentionally feeding the sense of entitlement. The professor and the James Madison colleagues are researching on ways to measure academic entitlement and how it develops. Findings have surprisingly found out that students are most likely to show â€Å"serious instances of incivility† right after academic assessment, be they tests results or mid-term grades. Some of the symptoms they came up with showing entitlement in students were: knowledge is a right that should be delivered with very little effort or discomfort on the students part; a high grade should come, not from mastery of material, but in return for non-academic aspects of education; if a student does not perform well on a test, it is a sign that the test was too difficult, not that the student did not understand the material. The researchers also found out that students who scored high on assessment of academic entitlement were less able to control their own learning and had less sense of control. However; professor Zinn has not found the direct cause and effect between specific teacher behavior and student entitlement. The professor though suggests that, there are some potential ways teachers can cut down on the whine. These included options such as providing clear expectations for students and assignments, in which the effort put in is clearly related to the grade a student, will receive. They should explain why particular policies are set up and also explain the value of the task the teachers ask students to do. The teachers are urged not to respond to students request for â€Å"the right answer† but rather help students to understand the concepts and to think through their own problem solving. As

Curriculum Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Curriculum Development - Assignment Example Philosophical theories in particular help in controlling the organization and content of the curriculum. Realism, for instance, asserts that the aim of education is primarily to teach values and things which will lead to the good life, which is, however â€Å"equated with one which is in tune with the overarching order of natural law† (Marshall, as cited in Golen, 1982). Realistic philosophy thus emphasizes learning through the direct study of nature via the aid of teachers. Thus, it has led to the continuous development of instructional methods that are suited to this kind of learning such as lecture, sensory experiments, and demonstrations, stressing the cultivation of logic and rational thoughts. Another theory is called pragmatism, which is founded on the principle that change is the principal characteristic of life. It has resulted to a curriculum that is learner-centered, wherein experiences are primordial in the educational process. Social Foundation. This foundation could be defined as influences that are present in society and culture. It is concerned with the impact of forces and institutions that comprise the school program’s culture. These are elements which create the greatest impact on the curriculum developer’s way of thinking as they always think and act within the society they live. In other words, the content, objectives, and methods of the devised curriculum shall reflect the social or cultural background of the developers (Print, 1993). Society and culture are the shapers of education since curriculum makers take into account the social setting, culture, the relationship between society and education, and the social implications of knowledge and change (Ritz, 2006). It must be noted that curriculum development is centered on attaining educational goals that are in harmony with broad cultural and societal goals.

Euro note and euro commercial paper

Euro note and euro commercial paper Difference Between The Euro Note Market And The Euro Commercial Paper Market Introduction The Euromarkets are the single most important source of commercial loan funds for the developing countries. The development and operation of Eurocurrency markets have played a very significant role in the post war international financial system. Indeed the explosive growth in international banking and bank lending could not have come about but for the Eurocurrency markets. Simply stated, the term Eurocurrency refers to a currency deposited in a bank outside the home country of that currency. Therefore, Eurocurrencies and Eurocurrency markets are outside the regulatory framework of any monetary authority-the monetary authority of the place where the deposit is made is not concerned with non-residents depositing or borrowing foreign currencies, which does not affect the domestic money supply. It is also outside the control of the monetary authority of the home country of the currency concerned because the transaction takes place outside the country. Inter-Bank Markets Apart from customer transactions, there is an extremely active inter-bank market in Eurocurrencies. Banks acting in the market are continuously trading Eurodollar deposits in the inter-bank market. Such active banks would readily offer a two-way quote-the rate at which they are willing to take a deposit, and the rate at which they are willing to place deposits. The two rates are referred to as bid and offered rates-hence the terms, London inter-bank rate (LIBID) and London inter-bank offered rate (LIBOR)-and the differences between the two represents the trading margin of the bank. Generally, it is of the order 1/8 percent. For calculation of interest on currencies other than the British pound, Eurodollar deposits in particular, the year is reckoned to be of 360 days. Thus, the actual interest would be worked out on the actual number of days divided by 360. Note Issuance Facilities Note Issuance Facility (NIF) is a medium term commitment on the part of underwriting banks which obliges them to purchase any short term notes which the borrower is unable to sell in the market, at an agreed spread over a suitable benchmark. The benchmark could be LIBOR, the T-bill rate, etc. Once a note issuance facility is in place, the borrower can issue short term paper and sell it in the capital market. To the extent the borrower can sell notes at a spread lower than that at which the underwriters are committed to buy, this helps in reducing the cost of borrowing. Another major advantage of a note issuance facility is that, since the notes are short term, this may allow the borrower to access investors who may not be interested in committing medium term funds but may be quite happy to buy short-term paper. The NIF can thus be used to diversify the investor base. To an extent, the NIF is something of a halfway mark between syndicated loans on the one hand and bond issues on the other. With some marginal variations in the basic structure of the facility, NIFs are sometimes also referred to as revolving underwriting facilities (RUFs), note purchase facilities or Euro note facilities. Euro-Notes Euro notes are short term bonds sold by a borrower directly to the investors with or without the underwriting support of the commercial banks. Euro-Commercial Paper Like Euro notes under NIFs, CPs is also short term paper issued by non-bank borrowers. The principal distinguishing feature is that commercial papers are not underwritten by a bank and the issuer, therefore, is one with very high credentials. The paper is usually issued in higher denominations of the order of $ 100,000 and the market is dominated by large professional investors. Although these can be issued in interest -bearing form, they are usually issued at a discount to face-value and quoted in the secondary market on a yield basis. Euro Notes And Euro-Commercial Paper Markets A recent innovation in nonbank short-term credits that bears a strong resemblance to commercial paper is the so-called Euro note. Euro notes are short term notes usually denominated in dollars and issued by corporations and governments. The prefix†Euro† indicates that the notes are issued outside the country in whose currency they are denominated. The interest rates are adjusted each time the notes are rolled over. Euro notes are often called Euro-commercial paper. Typically, though, the name Euro-CP is reserved for those Euro notes that are not underwritten. There are some differences between the U.S. commercial paper and the Euro-CP markets. For one thing, the average maturity of Euro-CP is about twice as long as the average maturity of U.S. CP. Also Euro-CP is actively traded in secondary market, but most U.S. CP is held to maturity by the original investors. Central banks, commercial banks and corporations are important part of the investor base for particular segment s of Euro-CP market; the most important holders of U.S. CP are money market funds, which are not very important in the Euro-CP market. In addition, the distribution of U.S. issuers in the Euro-CP market is of significantly lower than the distribution of U.S. issuers in the U.S. CP market. An explanation of this finding may lie in the importance of banks as buyer of less-than-prime paper in the Euro-CP market. Another important difference in practice between the two markets is in the area of ratings. Only about 45% of active Euro-CP issuers at year end 1986 were rated. Credit ratings in the United States, on the other hand are ubiquitous. This difference may prove transitory, however as investors become accustomed to the concept and the rating agencies facilitate the use of their services.

Othello Essay -- essays research papers

One of the most interesting and exotic characters in the tragic play "Othello," by William Shakespeare, is "Honest" Iago. At first glance, Iago seems to be the essence of "motiveless malignity." However, despite Iago's unquestionable malignancy, the motivation behind his actions lie more in Iago's quest for personal gain, as opposed to just being evil for evil's sake. Iago's rapacity can be validated by examining his manipulation of Roderigo, Cassio and, most importantly, Othello. Iago's main interest is the destruction of Othello. The reason being that Othello has chosen another man, Cassio, as his second-in-command, preferring him to Iago. This resentment, accompanied by Iago's fabricated accusations of adultery and his blatant racism, cause Iago to despise the kindly moor, and shortly thereafter, begin to conspire against him. Because Iago is much too smart to immediately kill Othello, he proceeds with the arduous process of dismantling him emotionally. Iago also knows that he must distance himself from any of the harrowing occurrences that transpire, so he cleverly gets other people to do his dirty work. The first to fall victim to Iago's illiberal manipulation, is the half-witted Roderigo. Iago knows Roderigo is consumed by lust for Desdemona, and would do anything to make her his own. Iago tells Roderigo that the only way to win Desdemona's love, is to make money to procure gifts for her. "...put money in thy purse.." (Act 1,...

Growing afraid Essay

Pip describes the afternoon as being â€Å"raw†, which describes the bitterness of the weather, the weather is almost attacking Pip. The graveyard can be described as very old because â€Å"overgrown with nettles† lays a churchyard, which is uncared for and in an instant it could just crumble away. Pip again adds significant words, as he repeats all of the names on the gravestones, â€Å"Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias and Roger† that have died in this harsh place, Pip reads it as if it were a list with so many people there, who have been there for a long period of time. â€Å"Dark, flat, wilderness beyond the churchyard† again explains the lack of community and the Isolation around the area. Dickens personifies wind as the â€Å"wind was rushing†, as if it were â€Å"rushing† to get Pip who was at the time a â€Å"small bundle of shivers† growing afraid. The marshlands had an effect not only on Pip, but the convict also, the convict had been â€Å"smothered in mud and lamed by stones and cut by flints, and stung by nettles and torn by briars†, showing he had escaped for a long time and had spent most of his time hiding in the marshlands. As the convict roughly treats Pip, he tilts him over, gradually down to the floor, he gives Pip a greater â€Å"sense of helplessness and danger† which adds to the atmosphere significantly. Toward the end of the chapter, a sad atmosphere is created, as the convict â€Å"hugged his shuddering body in both arms clasping himself as if to hold himself together†. The convict limps toward the â€Å"low church wall† producing an image of one who is close to death. Pip creates another childish imagination but this one describes the dead rising up â€Å"stretching up cautiously out of their graves†, showing how much fear he had in him at the time. The marshes are depicted as just a â€Å"long black horizontal line† with the sky being â€Å"just like a row of long angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed†, describing the darkness, and anger in Pip’s world. Charles Dickens leaves you with eerie images of death, of a limping man, as if he were a â€Å"pirate come to life and come down and going back to hook himself up again. We are introduced to Miss Havisham first as an â€Å"immensely rich and grim lady†, a notorious woman who lived in a large house that was heavily barricaded against robbers. She is described as living a life of â€Å"seclusion† which leads us to believe that she is isolated, miserable and depressed. Pip describes her as being the â€Å"strangest lady† he had ever seen. She was dressed in rich materials, satins, lace and silks, all that are symbols of wealth. She had a â€Å"long white veil dependent from her hair† which makes us believe that she is a bit odd wearing bridal wear for no apparent reason. Her hair was white which symbolizes that she is quite old. Another symbol of wealth is created because she had some bright jewels sparkling around her neck. Pip states that the â€Å"bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress† which is another clue to her being quite old. We are given another unhealthy image of Miss Havisham, of her dying, the book reflects this by stating that there was â€Å"no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes† and her figure had â€Å"hung loose† and had â€Å"shrunk to skin and bone†. She states that she had never seen the sun since she was born, this makes the reader feel that she is again isolated and hiding away from life outside. She is also a cold-hearted person, because she says that her heart was broken with an eager look on her face. We learn that she despises adults, and that she acts like a child, the novel portrays this by stating that she has â€Å"sick fancies† and she orders Pip with an â€Å"impatient movement of the hand† to play. When Estella came to play with Pip, Miss Havisham says to Estella that she can break Pips heart, this indicates that Miss Havisham has set out to seek revenge on men, and that is one of the reasons why she brought Pip to her house. There is a sense that life has ceased for Miss Havisham, the book shows this by stating that her silk stocking â€Å"once white, now yellow had been trodden ragged†. Pip says that the frillings and trimmings on her bridal dress looked like â€Å"earthy paper† which describes it as being fragile, like Miss Havisham herself. After Pip had finished playing cards with Estella, Miss Havisham states â€Å"You shall go home soon†, â€Å"Play the game out† this illustrates to the reader that she is depressed and emotionally hurt, and is not to used to the company of others, so she sends him away. She had an appearance of â€Å"dropped body and soul, within and without, under the weight of a crushing blow† which leads us to believe that the marriage which didn’t take place, has caused her to drop her body and drop her soul. Miss Havisham once again thinks highly of herself, acting as if she owns Pip, she expresses this by stating â€Å"When shall I have you here again? â€Å". We also learn that she is a misguided woman because she says she doesn’t know anything about the days of the week, or the weeks of the year. We first learn that Estella is selfish and speaks in an scornful manner to anyone she isn’t familiar with, the evidence of this is that after Pip politely said that she could go in first, she replied by saying â€Å"Don’t be ridiculous boy; I am not going in† and she also left Pip in the dark by taking the candle with her. When Pip called her name out to play with him, she didn’t come straight away, she took her time, deliberately trying to be awkward. When Miss Havisham tried the jewel on Estella, she obviously had intentions for her to get married. Estella thinks she is better than Pip, the evidence of this is that when she was ordered by Miss Havisham to play with Pip, she replied â€Å"With this boy! Why he is a common labouring boy! â€Å". When Estella asked Pip what games he played, she asked it in the â€Å"greatest disdain† which makes us believe she is strict and again scornful and looks down on lower classes. Estella is used as a weapon, a heartbreaker by Miss Havisham, who as we know wants to treat men as she was treated, Miss havisham illustrates this by stating â€Å"beggar him† to Estella. Estella has no respect for Pip and thinks highly of herself and no one else, the evidence of this is that she says, â€Å"he calls the knaves, jacks this boy! † and â€Å"what coarse hands he has†. This leaves an effect on Pip as he becomes ashamed of his hands. She was watching Pip creating tension, trying to make him do wrong, so that she could insult him more on his faults. Pip tells us this by stating â€Å"she was lying in wait for me to do wrong; and she denounced me for a stupid, clumsy labouring boy† As Pip was whispering to Miss Havisham, even though she wasn’t saying anything, Estella was making Pip say nice things about her with her eyes, the evidence of this is that she was looking at Pip with look of â€Å"supreme aversion†. As the game between Pip and Estella finished, Estella threw all of the cards down as if she â€Å"despised† them for having been won of Pip, this shows that Estella is spiteful, treats Pip disdainfully and she is very proud. Estella was to told feed Pip, so she put the food down on the ground without looking at Pip as if Pip was a â€Å"dog in disgrace†, this shows that Estella again thinks Pip as being lower class and she has contempt for Pip. Estella had made Pip cry, she looked at him with quick delight as being the cause of the tears, this proves she has no feelings and is satisfied for making him cry, this makes her not a likeable character at all. The first Impressions of Miss Havisham`s house is that it is a huge house filled with mystery, â€Å"dismal house, barricaded against robbers† which reflects the owner’s feelings. The house can furthermore be described as bleak and nervous for anyone who approaches it, with its â€Å"great front entrance† having two chains across it. It is a dark, gloomy place, with a sense of bad experiences. The text tells us this by stating, â€Å"the passages were all dark†¦ and still it was dark, and only the candle lighted us†. Miss Havisham`s room was also dark, she obviously prefers darkness, and all of the candles represent the light in the room, the evidence of this is that â€Å"a pretty large room, well lighted with candles† and â€Å"no glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it†. There is a sense of chaos in the room as everything is untidy, dresses and half-packed trunks were scattered about also Miss Havisham only had one shoe on. Everything was left as it was years ago, â€Å"all confusedly heaped about the looking glass†. Pip relates Miss Havisham to a waxwork he had once seen, with her skin sallow. He also makes a reference to death by describing a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress. Miss Havisham is almost a ghost in her own house, the evidence of this is that â€Å"waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved†. All of the watches and clocks in her room had stopped at twenty minutes to nine, which is deliberate and could be linked with her marriage that didn’t take place. Pip is made to feel vulnerable, he has no choice but to do what Miss Havisham says, this is because he had the â€Å"desperate idea of starting round the room† meaning that he had to embarrass himself in front of Miss Havisham. She asked Pip if he was sullen and obstinate, he is obviously very misunderstood. Miss Havisham becomes frustrated with him and pitiful for him, the book expresses this by stating â€Å"So new to him† â€Å"So old to me† â€Å"So melancholy to both of us! † Miss Havisham again makes Pip feel discomfort as he is made to shout out â€Å"Estella† in a dark and â€Å"mysterious passage of an un-known house† again he is made to embarrass himself. Another sense that life has seized for Miss Havisham is that there are â€Å"pale, decayed objects† which also creates a deathly and unsettling atmosphere. Pip also describes her clothes as â€Å"grave-clothes† and her â€Å"long veil looking like a shroud† both of which are linked with a corpse. As Pip leaves Miss Havisham`s house, he states that the â€Å"rush of daylight† quite confounded him, this is another clue that the house is a very dark place. Toward the end of the chapter, we feel pity for Pip, because Estella treats him so badly, but he is strong because he refuses to cry in the presence of her, even though his feelings are â€Å"bitter†. This also shows that he wishes he had come from a family who were more of an upper class, than the family he was brought up with, because then maybe Estella would have treated him better.