Book excerpts:

These notes are an introduction to computer programming using the language QuickBasic, a version of BASIC that comes free with most Microsoft operating systems. The language BASIC itself was designed in the early 1960s for teaching the basic principles of programming to non-science majors. It has been popular ever since.

With QuickBasic you can easily write small programs and get the idea of what programming is about. Other versions of BASIC are intended for professional programmers who expect to write programs that are many thousands of lines long. Our programs will not get that long.

The twenty-four chapters will give you an idea of what programming is all about. If you faithfully work your way through all the chapters, you will learn how all the gritty details that programming involves add up to the wonderful things called "programs." You will be able to write some simple programs yourself.

These notes are about programming, but they do not try to make you a programmer. Their goal is to increase your understanding of computers in the modern world. If you are thinking about becoming a programmer, studying these notes is a good first step. However, these notes are aimed at students who are not computer science majors. Details have been kept to a minimum.