Uh, Jez,



Back in 1991 I modeled the electrostatic ion extraction from a magnetically confined plasma using BASIC, DOS and an 80386/80387 PC. And it was an accurate enough model to show why we were burning up extraction cones.

That being said, I would also have to point out that at the time I didn't have a Fortran compiler, I had not yet learned C/C++, and my programmer was tied up on a more important project. Basically (no pun intended), my options were to wait or write it myself in BASIC. ;-)

Patrick, while it may be true that "... there is no sigle "best" solution..., it is in fact true that there is always a worse solution. CoBOL is always the worst possible choice ;-).

Now I have a question. I remember that CoBOL comes from "Computer Business Oriented Language, and I remember that FORTRAN derives from FORmula TRANslation. But all I can remember about BASIC is that the "B" stands for "Beginners'." Does anyone remember what the "ASIC" stands for? (No, this time it does not stand for "Application Specific Integrated Circuit.")

Similarly, I know that "a" is for "assembler," and that "c" came after "b," but I don't remember what the "b" was. Does anybody remember?