IBM Cassette BASIC was a version of the Microsoft BASIC

Microsoft BASIC

Microsoft BASIC was the foundation product of the Microsoft company. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first BASIC, and the first high level programming language available for the MITS Altair 8800 hobbyist microcomputer....

 programming language licensed by IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 for the IBM PC

IBM PC

The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...

. It was included in the BIOS

BIOS

In IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....

 ROM

Read-only memory

Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...

 of the original IBM PC. Cassette BASIC provided the default user interface if there was no floppy disk drive installed, or if the boot code

Booting

In computing, booting is a process that begins when a user turns on a computer system and prepares the computer to perform its normal operations. On modern computers, this typically involves loading and starting an operating system. The boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the...

 did not find a bootable floppy disk

Floppy disk

A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...

 at power on. The name Cassette BASIC came from its use of cassette tapes rather than floppy disk

Floppy disk

A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...

s to store programs and data. GW-BASIC

GW-BASIC

GW-BASIC was a dialect of the programming language BASIC developed by Microsoft from BASICA, originally for Compaq. It is compatible with Microsoft/IBM BASICA, but was disk based and did not need the ROM BASIC. It was bundled with MS-DOS operating systems on IBM PC compatibles by Microsoft...

is the standalone, compatible successor to IBM Cassette BASIC, which does not require ROM to run.

External links

• PCE - IBM PC Emulator which emulates IBM Cassette BASIC and IBM Cassette Interface with connected third party cassette drive
• POPBASIC & RUNBASIC which invokes & copies IBM Cassette BASIC