BASIC
BASIC (an acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use.
In 1964, John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz designed the original BASIC language at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. They wanted to enable students in fields other than science and mathematics to use computers. At the time, nearly all use of computers required writing custom software, which was something only scientists and mathematicians tended to learn.
Versions of BASIC became widespread on microcomputers in the mid-1970s and 1980s. Microcomputers usually shipped with BASIC, often in the machine's firmware. Having an easy-to-learn language on these early personal computers allowed small business owners, professionals, hobbyists, and consultants to develop custom software on computers they could afford.
Data manipulation
LET: assigns a value (which may be the result of an expression) to a variable.
DATA: holds a list of values which are assigned sequentially using the READ command.
Program flow control
IF ... THEN ... ELSE: used to perform comparisons or make decisions.
FOR ... TO ... {STEP} ... NEXT: repeat a section of code a given number of times. A variable that acts as a counter is available within the loop.
The following code will draw a word on the screen. There are two ways to solve this, high-tech or low-tech. The choice is up to you.
10 LET Y = 1
20 FOR X = 1 TO 7
30 PLOT X, Y
40 NEXT X
50 LET X = 7
60 FOR Y = 2 TO 7
70 PLOT X, Y
80 NEXT Y
90 LET Y = 7
110 FOR X = 6 TO 1 STEP -1
120 PLOT X, Y+1
130 NEXT X
140 LET X = 7
150 FOR Y = 9 TO 15
160 PLOT X, Y
170 NEXT Y
175 LET Y = 15
180 FOR X = 7 TO 1 STEP -1
190 PLOT X, Y
200 NEXT X
205 LET X = 1
210 FOR Y = 15 TO 1 STEP -1
220 PLOT X, Y
230 NEXT Y
240 LET X = 9
270 FOR Y = 1 TO 14
280 PLOT X, Y
290 NEXT Y
300 LET Y = 15
310 FOR X = 10 TO 14
320 PLOT X, Y
330 NEXT X
340 LET X = 15
350 FOR Y = 14 TO 1 STEP -1
360 PLOT X, Y
370 NEXT Y
380 LET Y = 8
390 FOR X = 9 TO 15
400 PLOT X, Y
410 NEXT X
420 LET Y = 15
430 FOR X = 18 TO 22
440 PLOT X, Y
450 NEXT X
460 LET X = 17
470 FOR Y = 14 TO 9 STEP -1
480 PLOT X, Y
490 NEXT Y
500 LET Y = 8
510 FOR X = 18 TO 22
520 PLOT X, Y
530 NEXT X
540 LET X = 23
550 FOR Y = 7 TO 2 STEP -1
560 PLOT X, Y
570 NEXT Y
580 LET Y = 1
590 FOR X = 22 TO 18 STEP -1
600 PLOT X, Y
610 NEXT X
610 LET X = 25
620 FOR Y = 1 TO 15
630 PLOT X, Y
640 NEXT Y
650 LET Y = 15
660 FOR X = 28 TO 33
670 PLOT X, Y
680 NEXT X
690 LET X = 27
700 FOR Y = 14 TO 2 STEP -1
710 PLOT X, Y
720 NEXT Y
730 LET Y = 1
740 FOR X = 28 TO 33
750 PLOT X, Y
760 NEXT X
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.