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Burble - Episode 2 - Writing Code

Wait! Burble's not quite dead yet! Sure it's been 17 months since the last cheesy episode, but I decided to make another one. In this video, I show you what it means to write a program in about 17 minutes. Hmm after 17 months you get a 17 minute video. Interesting.

On a side note, as I watch the end I'm not sure if I come off as a bit patronizing. If so, my apologies! I was simply trying to point out that it does take more than a passing interest to be able to write useful programs, but I think anyone can do it if they really put their mind to it.

On with the show! There's no Flash version to play in your browser this time. If I squashed it down that small, you'd never be able to read what I was typing. So you'll have to deal with the 38MB video file. Enjoy!

Comments

# re: Burble - Episode 2 - Writing Code

Nice video, Ben. I remember us going over how subroutines can make your life easier. I think you were using GW-Basic as your language of choice at that time, probably running in DOS 3.0 or 4.0. Do you remember what GW stands for?

Thursday, November 06, 2008 4:13 PM by Dudley

# re: Burble - Episode 2 - Writing Code

Nope, I forgot, so I looked it up...

There are several theories on what the initials "GW" stand for. Greg Whitten, an early Microsoft employee who developed the standards in the company's BASIC compiler line, says Bill Gates picked the name GW-BASIC. Whitten refers to it as Gee-Whiz BASIC and is unsure if Gates named the program after him.[5] The Microsoft User Manual from Microsoft Press also refers to it by this name.[citation needed] It may have also been nicknamed Gee-Whiz because it had a large number of graphics commands.[5] Other common theories as to the initials' origins include "Graphics and Windows", "Gates, William" (Microsoft's president at the time), or "Gates-Whitten" (the two main designers of the program).[6][7]

Thursday, November 06, 2008 4:19 PM by BenM