Thomas Eugene Kurtz, the co-creator of the BASIC programming language, died on November 12, 2024, at 96. He was a mathematician, computer scientist, and a driving force behind the democratization of computer programming.

Kurtz co-invented the BASIC programming language, opening the doors of computing to an entire generation of learners and enthusiasts.

He was instrumental in making programming accessible to a broader audience, helping democratize technology for future innovators. The creation of BASIC, fundamentally transformed how people interacted with computers, making programming accessible to millions of people around the world.

As computing began to establish itself in academia and industry, Kurtz worked to ensure that technology was available to not only engineers and scientists but also students and hobbyists. Kurtz’s efforts broke down barriers in technology, enabling individuals from diverse backgrounds to engage with computing in meaningful ways.

Opening Access to Computing: The Invention of BASIC

In the early 1960s, computer programming was a pursuit reserved for a niche audience – engineers, scientists, and highly specialized professionals. The dominant programming languages of the time, such as Fortran and Algol, were powerful but intimidatingly complex.

Thomas Kurtz saw the need for something different: a simple, easy-to-learn language that would make computing accessible to a much broader audience, including undergraduates at Dartmouth College.

The solution was BASIC, an acronym for Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, which was launched alongside the Dartmouth Time Sharing System (DTSS) on May 1, 1964. BASIC was designed with clarity in mind, favoring intuitive syntax over obscure punctuation and cryptic commands.

In a 2014 interview with Time magazine, Kurtz explained, “We wanted the syntax of the language to consist of common words, and to have those words have a more-or-less obvious meaning.” BASIC was more than just a new programming language; it was a mission to open computing to those who had previously been excluded from it.

Empowering the Masses: BASIC as the Foundation for Personal Computing

The impact of BASIC cannot be overstated.

It became the first programming language for countless aspiring programmers and technology enthusiasts. Thanks to Kurtz’s vision, students and beyond were able to write simple programs on Teletype terminals, experimenting with the new power that computers provided.

By the late 1970s, BASIC had found its way into classrooms, hobbyist groups, and early personal computers. It was BASIC that first transformed Bill Gates and Paul Allen’s Altair 8800 from a complex, blinking box into a functional computer, enabling users to engage directly with software development.

Microsoft’s version of BASIC, launched in 1975, became the stepping stone to what would eventually be the world’s largest software company. BASIC played a foundational role in the personal computer revolution, making computing accessible to young dreamers eager to understand the new digital frontier.

Learning to program on BASIC launched many tech hobbyists’ careers, inspiring some of the most influential figures in the technology industry.

A Legacy of Simplicity and Accessibility

Kurtz chose to release BASIC into the public domain, a decision that would further cement its influence.

Rather than trying to tightly control the development of the language, they prioritized accessibility and widespread adoption. This open approach allowed BASIC to flourish across different types of systems, from the mainframes of the 1960s to the home computers of the 1980s.

It became a lingua franca for personal computing, familiar to millions of users worldwide.

However, with growth came fragmentation. Kurtz himself lamented the numerous adaptations and variations of BASIC that emerged over the years, referring to some of these iterations as “Street BASIC.” In response, he formed True BASIC, Inc. in the 1980s, with the hope of restoring the language to its original design principles, simplicity, readability, and ease of use.

Though newer programming languages would eventually eclipse BASIC in popularity, its influence endured. For many, BASIC was their first encounter with the power of programming, a gateway to understanding the language of computers.

Paving the Way for the Future

Thomas Kurtz’s contributions to computing went far beyond BASIC. His role in developing the Dartmouth Time Sharing System was a key milestone in making computing resources accessible to non-specialists, and he was instrumental in the establishment of standards that would shape the early days of academic and instructional computing.

As the director of the Kiewit Computation Center and later the Office of Academic Computing at Dartmouth, Kurtz helped build a foundation of computing education that has influenced generations of technologists.

In recognition of his contributions, Kurtz was inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in 1994. His leadership extended to serving on numerous advisory panels and committees, advocating for accessible computing and shaping the educational landscape for future computer scientists.

Kurtz’s work made a lasting impact not just on technology but on how people interacted with it, bridging the gap between complex systems and human understanding.

The Wrap

Thomas Kurtz was more than a co-inventor of BASIC; he was an advocate for broad access to technology. His legacy is one of simplicity and empowerment, a belief that computers should be tools for everyone, not just an elite few.

By making programming approachable, Kurtz unlocked the potential for millions to participate in the digital age, transforming what was once an esoteric field into something familiar and exciting for students, educators, and hobbyists alike.

Kurtz’s vision remains relevant in a world where the complexity of new innovations often outpaces the ability to understand them. BASIC was just the beginning, but it laid the foundation for a future where anyone with curiosity could learn, create, and innovate, a future that owes much to the quiet brilliance of Thomas Kurtz.