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Learn BASIC Now
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<p><i>Learn BASIC Now</i> is a book series written by <a href="/facts/Michael_Halvorson/B89rT4gL">Michael Halvorson</a> and David Rygmyr, published by <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Press/5bNASSu4">Microsoft Press</a>. The primers introduced <a href="/facts/Computer_programming/QmSsFnu0">computer programming</a> concepts to students and self-taught learners who were interested in creating games and application programs for early personal computers, including <a href="/facts/IBM-PC_compatible/zGUpl7Sh">IBM-PC compatible</a> systems and the <a href="/facts/Apple_Macintosh/8GhnXTK0">Apple Macintosh</a>. </p><p><i>Learn BASIC Now</i> included software disks containing the <a href="/facts/QuickBASIC/pfbnC5RX">Microsoft QuickBASIC</a> Interpreter and the book’s sample programs. The books were influential in the popularization of the <a href="/facts/BASIC/VYMl5TmA">BASIC</a> language and released during a significant growth phase of the personal computer industry when the installed base of BASIC programmers hit four million active users. </p><p>Since the books were distributed by <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a> and featured a robust, menu-driven programming environment, <i>Learn BASIC Now</i> became an important catalyst for the learn-to-program movement, a broad-based <a href="/facts/Computer_literacy/1ALrJjUy">computer literacy</a> initiative in the 1980s and 1990s that encouraged people of all ages to learn to write computer programs. </p>