street BASIC

noun

Any variety of the BASIC programming language that lacks good structure and encourages poor programming practices.

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Meanings

nounstreet BASIC (countable and uncountable, plural street BASICs)

plural street BASICs

  1. countablederogatoryuncountablecomputingAny variety of the BASIC programming language that lacks good structure and encourages poor programming practices.

    Street BASIC is becoming the language taught in junior high; it is sandwiched between Logo, which is taught in elementary school, and Pascal, which is taught in high school.

    1988, Cynthia Solomon, Computer Environments for Children, page 94
    1 more example

    In 1984, BASIC's original developers responded to what they saw as the problems of “street Basic” by introducing True BASIC, a modern, well-structured version of the language, and the 1988 ANSI BASIC standard incorporated similar features.

    2009, Harry Henderson, Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology, page 40

Origin

The term was introduced by computer scientists Thomas Kurtz and John Kemeny.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

street BASIC. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/street%20BASIC

MLA

“street BASIC.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/street%20BASIC. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “street BASIC,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/street%20BASIC.

Source: street BASIC on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.