Basic is an excellent programming language for rapid prototyping (as in the real meaning of the word, not protos). Trying to develop something from scratch in C is a pain in the ass. Whenever I want to do something remotely advanced, I do it in AMOSPro first, make shure everything work the way it's supposed to do, then slap together a C version re-using old code and then type in the essence of it. The code usually works perfectly at compile one.
C/C++ should have been replaced by something more modern many years ago (I'm NOT implying Basic).
C/C++ is only good for OS developers. Application and games developers want stuff like the Basic language. I have no interest whatsoever in lowlevel communication / writing my own support for OS/API when I could be making progress with my application instead. Time and time spent is what matters. C/C++ simply isn't the answer.
The trouble with C is that everything my app tries to communicate with will have it's own C derriviate language. Learning C, and then what?
Only knowing the C language means you know perhaps 1% of what you need to know in order to actually use the language in practic.
C is like being a traveling saleman and ask for directions to the nearest gas station all the time.
Basic runs on nuclear fission.
