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IBM Basic Programming Support
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<p>IBM Basic Programming Support/360 (BPS), originally called Special Support, was a set of <a href="/facts/Standalone_program/2KduaAxh">standalone programs</a> for <a href="/facts/IBM_System%2f360/7znvpy4K">System/360</a> mainframes with a minimum of 8 KiB of memory. </p><p>BPS was developed by <a href="/facts/IBM/QszA7nwd">IBM</a>'s General Products Division in <a href="/facts/Endicott%2c_New_York/5c64cELg">Endicott, New York</a>. The package included "assemblers, <a href="/facts/Input%2fOutput_Control_System/3k5RKhcQ">IOCS</a>, compilers, sorts, and utilities but no governing control program." BPS components were introduced in a series of product announcements between 1964 and 1965.: pp.319–321 </p><p>BPS came in two versions — a strictly <a href="/facts/Punched_card/44WsPulQ">punched card</a> system and a <a href="/facts/Magnetic_tape/wj6IDTR1">magnetic tape</a> based system which, contrary to the stated goals, kept a small supervisor permanently resident.: p.14 </p><p>Programming languages available were <a href="/facts/IBM_Basic_Assembly_Language_and_successors/XvGcn77x">IBM Basic Assembly Language</a>, <a href="/facts/IBM_RPG/yNSN1Ga1">IBM RPG</a>, and <a href="/facts/Fortran/m1KqjcMU">FORTRAN IV</a> (subset). Tape FORTRAN required 16 KiB of memory.: p.5 There were also two versions of the BPS assembler, with the tape version having enhanced capabilities. </p><p>BPS also had a "disk" counterpart called <a href="/facts/BOS%2f360/8Ue7EE6C">BOS/360</a>. It also required 8 KiB of memory and supported disks such as the <a href="/facts/IBM_2311/rot8kJdv">IBM 2311</a>. </p><p>The group responsible for BPS/BOS went on to develop <a href="/facts/DOS%2f360_and_successors/bT9PzVHd">DOS/360 and TOS/360</a> as a supposed "interim" solution when it became evident that <a href="/facts/OS%2f360_and_successors/nQbdNbx6">OS/360</a> would be too large to run on 16 KiB systems. </p><p>BPS and BOS could be used to run standalone applications on a minimal System/360. One application was the <i>System/360 Work Station</i> for <a href="/facts/Remote_job_entry/x0usMfke">remote job entry</a> to a larger system. </p>