[HN Gopher] ZX Spectrum BASIC programming (1983) [pdf]
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ZX Spectrum BASIC programming (1983) [pdf]
Author : guytv
Score : 115 points
Date : 2022-11-16 15:25 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (zxnext.narod.ru)
(TXT) w3m dump (zxnext.narod.ru)
| dcminter wrote:
| This print from the artist of the ZX Spectrum manual art may be
| of interest to some of you: https://www.alisoneldred.com/john-
| harris/fine-art-prints-1/s...
|
| I have no affiliation other than having purchased the ZX81
| manual's art print.
| shever73 wrote:
| Amazing, thank you. The book holds a lot of memories for me.
| Since I'm currently redecorating my office, I think that print
| would be perfect.
| therealmarv wrote:
| I remember having the hardcopy when I was a child (got an old ZX
| Spectrum in the beginning 90s)... probably one of the first
| programming books I've ever had and read myself.
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| This reminds me of 'Start programming with the Electron' which
| came bundled with the Acorn Electron. You can see the cover at
| the bottom of this page:
|
| http://classicacorn.computinghistory.org.uk/8bit_oem_comp/el...
| antirez wrote:
| The version distributed in Italy in 1983, that is a (good)
| translation of this one linked in the story: http://www.rsp-
| italy.it/IT/Computers/Sinclair/_contents/Alla...
| tuukkah wrote:
| Here's a HTML version of the book (including the pages missing
| from the PDF):
| https://worldofspectrum.net/ZXBasicManual/index.html
| sumanthvepa wrote:
| This brings back so many warm fuzzy memories. The ZX Spectrum was
| my first computer.
| oniony wrote:
| I never had this one, I started with the Spectrum+ manual in
| 1984, which was considerably smaller than this one but also a lot
| more colourful and inviting for an eight-year-old kid. I have
| very fond memories of typing in and eventually understanding the
| spider program in that book, even though I remember it took me a
| frustratingly long time to find the '|' character on the Spectrum
| keyboard for the spider's thread (Extend Mode, Symbol Shift-S).
|
| https://ia904509.us.archive.org/35/items/NH2021_spectrumplus...
| ceeb wrote:
| Fabulous book and a great introduction to programming in 1982. It
| put me on the road to a career in development.
| telmo wrote:
| Oh man, the nostalgia! This was my first programming book. I
| started learning both programming and English from it.
| dcminter wrote:
| Even though I was obsessed with computers I don't think I would
| have got half as far as quickly if I had to learn a whole other
| human language to do it! Real dedication!
|
| I loved the (similar) ZX81 book so much that I bought a print
| of the cover art from the (same) original artist.
|
| (Edit: Linked artist's site as a top level comment in case
| anyone else is interested in getting that)
| guytv wrote:
| This brought back such warm memories. I didn't know any English
| then, but I just copied programs, ran them, and slowly learned
| some BASIC and some English while at it. :)
| pcardoso wrote:
| I learned BASIC and English at roughly the same time because of
| this book. I had only learned the basics (aha!) at school but I
| wanted so much to learn how to program the machine that I kept at
| at, scaffolding one on top of the other. Amazing, if archaic,
| times..
| NightM0de wrote:
| I remember going into shops that had them on display with BBC Bs
| and Amstrads - 10 PRINT "EVERYONE WHO WORKS HERE IS AN IDIOT" 20
| GOTO 10
| cvcount wrote:
| Just wanted to call out a couple of moments where this manual is
| far better than it needs to be, considering the target audience.
|
| (from page 130) a description of calculating how long your ZX
| Spectrum has been powered on includes a discussion of the problem
| of a race condition when the counter ticks over
|
| (from page 117) a program illustrating that the RND function uses
| a pseudo-random number generator
| rebolek wrote:
| The cover is absolutely amazing and I still regret selling the
| book.
| ofrzeta wrote:
| It's by John Harris. I also love the ZX81 BASIC manual.
|
| http://www.alisoneldred.com/john-harris/fine-art-prints-1/sc...
| shutton wrote:
| Does anyone know where the cover art for he ZX81 programming book
| came from? (https://issuu.com/old-
| computers/docs/zx81basicprogramming)
|
| I remember being fascinated by it as a child.
| shutton wrote:
| Ok, found it.
|
| https://www.alisoneldred.com/john-harris/fine-art-prints-1/s...
| dcminter wrote:
| If you end up buying it then I recommend getting museum glass
| when you frame it - the picture is quite dark so it's likely
| to be too reflective otherwise.
| Gordonjcp wrote:
| I learned from the very similar ZX81 manual, and for a very long
| time still used it as my handy guide to Z80 mnemonics :-)
| WediBlino wrote:
| Forty years later the NEW on on last line of the sample program
| on page 210 (line 170) still stings.
|
| I typed in the program, it ran and then the NEW caused the
| interpreter to reset itself.
|
| I think of it every time I save a file.
| tomcam wrote:
| Oh the pain!
| woliveirajr wrote:
| I feel your pain.
|
| After typing bilions of lines to have some inventory control
| (and other things, enough to run a little drugstore) I asked
| for help to type the remaining code. A relative came, typed
| "new" and pressed return.
| egypturnash wrote:
| Oh wow, I love how the text warning you of that part is on the
| next page. Probably the facing page rather than after a page
| turn given that even-numbered pages are on the left, but still.
| What a wonderful example of the importance of layout. Possibly
| a deliberate choice.
|
| And also: "Unfortunately it produces the patterns upside down,
| but you might not worry about this". C'mon, kid, don't you want
| to fix that? It'll be fun.
| belter wrote:
| These kids now with their GPU's and their Inference chips, don't
| know how good they have it! We used to program just with zeros
| and ones, and some days...we had only zeros!
| veltas wrote:
| You _can_ do a lot more today, but it was easier back when you
| could learn your way around an entire machine in a week.
| layer8 wrote:
| Who needs binary when there is unary.
| Joeboy wrote:
| I think some pages are missing?
|
| My copy has a "Chapter 26 - Using machine code", and "Appendix A
| - The character set". The latter also lists all the Z80 opcodes,
| in both hex and decimal. Those were the _really_ good parts of
| the book.
| veltas wrote:
| There were different versions of the manual, some thicker than
| others.
| JoeDaDude wrote:
| For those (like me) getting off on the nostalgia factor, there is
| a museum dedicated to the ZX spectrum and related PCs:
|
| https://loadzx.com/en/
| kensai wrote:
| A piece of my childhood. Although at that time I could appreciate
| much of it. Do you have more Spectrum manuals? I remember for
| sure there were more.
| jsvaughan wrote:
| I owe my career to this book. I learnt binary from page 93 when I
| was about 8 years old so I could draw custom graphics on the
| screen (an airplane that i could fly around)
| elvis70 wrote:
| The pages from 171 to 188 are missing: Chapters 25 (The system
| variables) and 26 (Using machine code) and Appendix A (The
| character set, with a disassembly table). All the fun stuff. I
| have still the third edition of the manual.
| rwmj wrote:
| After learning programming with this and the ZX81 book, Steve
| Vickers was (many years later) one of my lecturers at university.
| His course on Mathematical Structures was insanely complicated.
| If you want to read a genius / inscrutable / impenetrable CS
| paper, go and have a look at some of the ones he has co-authored:
| https://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~sjv/papersfull.php#PtfreePtwise
| makerofthings wrote:
| I have a copy of this on a shelf by my desk. From Chapter 1 -
| "Whatever else you do, keep using the computer. If you have the
| question "what does it do if I tell it such and such?" then the
| answer is easy: type it in and see. Whenever the manual tells you
| to type something in, always ask yourself, "what could I type
| instead?", and try out your replies. The more of your own
| programs you write, the better you will understand the computer."
| makerofthings wrote:
| The other book that came with the machine has a quote that I
| think kicked off my career as an engineer - "Now that you have
| set up the computer, you will want to use it. The rest of this
| booklet tells you how to do that; but in your impatience you
| will probably already have started pressing the keys on the
| keyboard, and discovered that this removes the copyright
| message. This is good; you cannot harm the computer in this
| way. Be bold. Experiment. If you get stuck, remember that you
| can always reset the computer to the original picture with the
| copyright message by taking out the '9V DC IN' plug and putting
| it back again. This should be the last resort because you lose
| all the information in the computer."
|
| I loved that machine.
| desireco42 wrote:
| Same here and I vividly remember that message "you can't harm
| computer". It really spoke to me.
| TuringTest wrote:
| Me too, here. It was a significant reassurance, and I was
| later disappointed to learn that the PC operating system
| did not have that same quality that earlier microcomputers
| had.
| guytv wrote:
| Me too. I remember going through the "Beyond ZX Spectrum" was
| it? it had listings of basic programs for "Lunar Lander" and
| other nice games. With colorful inspiring screenshots of the
| running games.
| danjc wrote:
| Ah lunar lander, felt like so much code to type and I never
| got the darn thing to land without crashing!
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(page generated 2022-11-16 23:01 UTC)