Wilhelmsen has put up a primer on Github for coding Commodore 64 applications for Windows PCs. Wilhelmsen holds a day job as a senior program manager for gaming at Microsoft.

It’s not every day someone returns a 40-year-old overdue library book. They checked the system. My account had probably been ...

All good and well, you may say at this point, but nobody is dragging out that C64 to do some BASIC programming today. Aside from folks who like to play with old computers, of course.

But the C64 Mini does a bit more. Not only can you use it to play 64 different classic games, but you can even experiment with the C64 BASIC programming language.

The condition by which the C64 title was finally approved was the removal of the BASIC programming language (though ironically it’s still shown in screen shots, even on the App Store).

There was a time when anyone could try programming, thanks to the ubiquity of Basic. But Basic's a nonstarter these days, so what will entice a new generation?

60 years ago, the inventors of the BASIC programming language actually achieved what they had hoped for: simple programming that is accessible to everyone.