REVIEWS COURTESY OF ZXSR

Easy Programming for the ZX Spectrum
by Ian N. Stewart, Robin N. Jones
Shiva Publishing Ltd
1982
ZX Computing Issue 4, Dec 1982   page(s) 54

SPECTRUM RULES THE WAVES

Every publisher in the UK seems to have discovered the Spectrum, so there is sure to be a bumper crop of reading matter for Spectrum owners in the coming months.

Our review panel have been looking at a selection of the Spectrum books and finds that the standard is uniformly high (both in terms of content and presentation), with each book representing value for money in its own way.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Three titles seem to be aimed at common ground; the first-time user, who knows little (if any BASIC) and certainly knows little about the Spectrum. These are 'Easy Programming for the ZX Spectrum' (Shiva - Ian Stewart and Robin Jones); 'The ZX Spectrum and how to get the most out of it' (Granada - Ian Sinclair); and 'Programming Your ZX Spectrum' (Interface - Tim Hartnell and Dilwyn Jones). Of course, they all tread similar ground, but attack the problem in quite different ways. We feel that many inexperienced users will benefit from buying two (or even all three) of the books, as what is unclear in one can be illuminated by the second or third. The funniest of the three is certainly Jones and Stewarts' 'Easy Programming...' which follows on the style of the highly successful 'PEEK, POKE, BYTE and RAM' title for the ZX81, and is enlivened by a batch of weedy cartoons.

There is no doubt, if you want your learning leavened with humour, that this is the title to start with.

The book goes through all the aspects of the Spectrum you're likely to need in the first few months, generally explaining them well and clearly. The demonstration programs include some remarkable demonstration graphics, ones which are ideal for impressing your family and friends. Our only reservations about the book, and these reservations should not distract you from what is generally a very fine product, are the first two chapters.

BEWILDERING

A somewhat obscure program is 'explained' in the first chapter, in a way which - unless you're a very careful or patient reader - may leave you more bewildered than in the light.

We have noticed that authors from academic backgrounds (like the man who wrote the manual for the Dragon 32) always believe that manipulating arithmetic on the computer is the very first thing you need to master. Most of us start by playing games. The exponention function we can live without for a while. Despite this, Stewart and Jones plunge into algebra, and the hierarchy of operations on pages eight and nine, when we imagine many readers really want to zap a few aliens.

Fortunately, things improve from this point, and chapter three's tour of the keyboard is the clearest of the three books we're considering.

READABLE

The book continues to improve, in readability and interest as it continues, almost as though the authors were learning about the machine as they wrote the book, and by about page 30 were really starting to enjoy it.

When you're next in a bookstore, turn to page 117, where a blurred screen photo fails to do justice to a particularly fine graphics demonstration program, described as 'another offering of winsome beauty'. Clive Sinclair should buy the rights to this program, so he can run it every time a critic mouths 'But it's not true high resolution'.

The book includes 26 complete programs (described as 'prepackaged'), each of which will amply repay the time taken to enter them. In conclusion, 'Easy Programming..." is a book which will take you a long way into the mysteries of the Spectrum; is written with a consistent, and humourous hand; and shares the affection the authors feel for the computer.

FOR THE SPECTRUM

Ian Sinclair's (no relation) book, 'The ZX Spectrum and how to get the most from it' is, in some ways a lighter book.

To fill a third of a page with a diagram of how to wire up a three-pin plug hardly suggests that the book is going to contain much meat, but after this rather odd beginning, Mr Sinclair gets into his stride. Unlike the Shiva book, which for some reason plumped to reset all programs, Mr Sinclair uses them direct from the ZX printer.

The first 18 pages are used up telling you how to connect up a television, and get a clear picture. Necessary information perhaps, but surely not worth that much of the book.

Like the Shiva authors, Mr Sinclair leaps straight into arithmetic, but drops this after a page or so and starts his first real section, on using TAB and PRINT AT.

There are only seven programs in this book which are more than a few lines long, and only one of them (ANIMALS) are you likely to run more than a few times.

GIVING IDEAS

Against this is the fact that many of the sections in the book give a tremendous source of ideas for producing your own programs, and the chapter 'Roll Your Own', which explains how the idea of a program can be refined and built up, and then turned into a computer program, is worth the cost of the book alone.

We were, however, a little disconcerted to read in the introduction Mr Sinclair thanking Clive's PR people for 'the loan of a Spectrum' which suggests that the author had little time to build up real expertise on the machine before writing the book.

Have a look at the 'Roll Your Own' chapter (from page 69). 'Graphics' (page 81) and 'Sound Sense' (page 105) to see how well, and clearly, the author covers his material.

Tim Hartnell, the editor of this magazine, has been very industrious, and produced two books for the Spectrum already.

Although he is editor, he told us when presenting the books for review, 'be rude if you have to'.

And we've tried very hard to be!

The two books are 'Programming Your ZX Spectrum"; published by Interface, and 'The ZX Spectrum Explored', published by a company which Uncle C part owns, Sinclair-Browne. Clive has written the introduction to 'Explored'.

'Programming Your ZX Spectrum' is the thickest of the four books reviewed in this section, and also the most expensive. As a comparison, the Shiva book has 140 pages, Ian Sinclair's has 130, 'The ZX Spectrum Explored' has 218 and 'Programming Your ZX Spectrum', 230. The books each cost £5.95, except for 'Programming Your...' which is £6.95.

Now for the rude bit.

Tim, and his co-author Dilwyn Jones include many, many programs (over 100 programs and routines' the publicity material says), but we felt many of them were introduced a little too early in the text, without adequate explanation. At the end, the techniques will be completely clear, but some readers will have to exercise patience and enter the programs on trust, knowing that the reasons for all the lines will become clear eventually.

Despite this, the book unfolds in a fairly logical way, and contains an easy-to-follow course on BASIC, and on programming, as well as on 'making the most of your Spectrum'. The program examples are, on the whole, good, with several 'major' programs including Reversi (Othello), Final Circuit and Life (with, for some reason, two completely different versions). A slight bug we found in Reversi has, we are assured, now been corrected in a reprint. The graphics chapter is clear, and although some of the demonstrations are not as 'winsome' as those in the Shiva book, they still provide fodder for impressing the neighbours.

GRAPHICS

The chapter on user-defined graphics is particularly clear, perhaps the clearest of all the books reviewed, and leads into a long, long 'Pacman-like' (very vaguely Pacman-like} game called Dotman.

This book, despite its headlong rush at the beginning, is certain to act as a resource which you'll take a long time to use up. At least one of the other books seems more likely to be 'exhausted' after the first two weeks of use.

Tim's other book, 'The ZX Spectrum Explored' is really a drawing together of the expertise of a number of people, including Jeremy Ruston, James Walsh and Tim Rogers.

It is not designed for the first time user, although a longish chapter at the beginning ('Programming in BASIC') has been included so you can make sense of the computer without any other of the guides.

Not all sections of this book are likely to appeal equally to all users, but no matter why you bought your Spectrum, you're probably going to be able to find material of real interest.

EXPERTISE

When writing each section, Tim drew on the experience of an 'expert' in the field, so each section reflects a knowledge of that particular area which is likely to be more concentrated and detailed than Tim could possibly have written on his own. The section headings will show the kind of material covered: Programming in BASIC; Exploring the Spectrum's Colour; Exploring the Spectrum's Sound; Using the Spectrum in Business; Using the Spectrum in Education; Playing Games with your Spectrum; Three-dimensional graphics; Introduction to Machine Code; and A Guide to Better Programming. The appendix includes a potted 'history of the computer' which moves very rapidly from Charles Babbage to some guy called Clive Sinclair. 'The race to produce ever-smaller, ever-more powerful computers was underway. Clive Sinclair entered that race in the late seventies'. One suspects that the Sinclair PR machine helped write the 'history'.

There are many, many programs (the business section even includes a very junior 'Visicalc'), with the best programs in the games section.


Transcript by Chris Bourne

Sinclair User Issue 11, Feb 1983   page(s) 83,84

MORE INFORMATION IN GENERAL BOOKS

This month John Gilbert looks away from the specific Sinclair publications.

Many general computer books, not written specifically for Sinclair machines, are so often useful to Sinclair users or other prospective computer owners. The Personal Computer Guide, by Tim Hartnell, provides information on most of the computers available. The guide is split into several sections, with a buyers' guide as an appendix to the computer reviews section.

The computer reviews contain short sections on the general appearance of each computer, approximate price, best and worst features. Hartnell draws some definite conclusions on the performance of each machine.

The guide includes a chapter on the history of computing from the days of Babbage to the present microcomputer boom. There is also a section on computer programming and how to use Basic.

One novel feature is that it has advertisements for a variety of machines, software and add-ons. The book also includes a list of clubs and local organisations which the computer owner can join.

The Personal Computer Guide contains everything a first-time buyer or beginner to computing might need. It is excellent value at £5.95 and can be obtained from Virgin Books.

Computing is Easy, by David Parker and Martin Hann, is an easy introduction to computing. There are many simple programs ready to be typed-in and it is ideal for the young user. A series of cartoons illustrates the book. They explain the concepts and, on occasions, are very amusing.

It has a chapter of debugging exercises, so that the beginner can become accustomed to the types of problem which occur during programming.

At the end of the book various topics are suggested to the programmer, such as currency conversion and composing tunes. The authors leave the programming of those tasks to the user. It is published by Newnes Technical Books and costs £4.95.

The Working Spectrum, by David Lawrence, is the handiest book about the Sinclair computer to appear so far. It charts the design of a series of routines, such as a filing system, an accounting program, a banking program and a graphic designer.

Each of the programs includes a discussion on how it works and the various techniques used, such as sorting and searching in the filing program. Each of the routines has been designed so that they can be used separately or in your own programs.

The book covers business uses, education and, of course, games. On the cover it indicates that it is volume one and I look forward to seeing the rest of the series. The Working Spectrum costs £5.95 and is published by Sunshine Books.

The Spectrum Pocket Book is another new book which can be recommended. It is more general than the previous book in the series, which was for the ZX-81, and includes a large section on machine code, which shows, among other things, how to print on to the screen using a machine code program and the Spectrum ROM.

There is also a full assembler program, disassembler and machine code monitor. It provides much useful information on the internal workings of the machine.

It is ideal both for first-time users and a user who has had some previous experience. It costs £4.95 and can be obtained from Phipps Associates.

Andrew Hewson has launched into the Spectrum market with 20 Best Programs for the ZX Spectrum. The book includes mathematical, graphics and games programs, with information on how they work and how they were written.

It is excellent value at £5.95 and illustrates many programming techniques, including data filing, sorting and binary search.

Easy Programming for the ZX Spectrum, by Ian Stewart and Robin Jones, is another introductory text which can be recommended for the beginner. In particular, there are several good chapters on graphics which show how to paint outlined shapes with colour.

The authors explain how to debug programs and make them more efficient, an important but little-stressed area in most books about Sinclair machines. It is from Shiva Publishing and costs £5.95.

The Spectrum Book of Games, by Mike James, S M Gee and Kay Ewbank, is ideal for all those who just want to enjoy the machine by playing games. It contains game listings for Space Invaders, squash rackets and even nine-hole golf. The programs are all explained but this kind of book is nothing new. Most of the games are based around Space Invaders, Breakout and Find the Treasure.

It is a good start for a beginner who wants to write or just type-in games programs. It is published by Granada Publishing. PO Box 9, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL2 2NF and costs £5.95.

Robin Bradbeer edited the Spectrum handbook and can be regarded as an expert on the machine. His new book, Learning to use the ZX Spectrum Computer, is an easy introduction to Spectrum Basic and some of the simple ways in which the computer can be used.

It provides a fine foundation for beginners but users who have some computing knowledge already will find little of interest in it. The book includes two appendices. The first lists additional reading material in the form of books and magazines and the second details the differences between Spectrum and ZX-81 Basic. It is available from Gower Publishing Co Ltd, Gower House, Croft Road, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 3HR and costs £4.95.


REVIEW BY: John Gilbert

Blurb: 'The Spectrum Pocket Book can be recommended. It is ideal for the first-time users and one with experience.'

Transcript by Chris Bourne

All information in this page is provided by ZXSR instead of ZXDB