The software was a program generator, as distinct from an actual programming language, as programs were generated by the user selecting options from menus that would form the basis of the generated code. This was done in a logical sequence that would eventually cause a program to be generated in BASIC. At any time, the user could elect to view a flow chart showing the current progress of the program's design.[10]
The program was available on various different computer platforms of the time.
Example
An example of a program to sort the names in a Christmas Card list in alphabetical order:
1. OPEN FILE <XMASLIST>
2. SET POINTER TO START OF FILE
3. SORT FILE
4. INPUT FROM FILE
5. IF END OF FILE REACHED BRANCH TO 8
6. OUTPUT DATA
7. UNCONDITIONAL BRANCH TO 4
8. TERMINATE
^A terminal case for programmers, New Scientist, 13 Aug 1981, Page 410, ..Its creator is David James, a bankrupt former millionaire with only a week's formal training in computers. In partnership with Scotty Bambury, a Somerset tyre dealer...
^First Look at the Last One - Program That Writes Programs, By Bill Burns, InfoWorld, 25 May 1981, Page 7, ...David James, the program's author says that he named it The Last One because 'it's the last human-produced program that needs to be written'...