or should I say 8 bit book?.
While reading the "Programmers don't read books" thread just come to my mind those really nice days where computer books where an extremely useful source of information. One of my favourites mentioned in the thread was:
BASIC Computer games by David Ahl<p>Which book was your favourite?
Kernighan Ritchie: The C Programming Language.<p>I had a copy lying near my unix lab computer. It must have been around 85 and I hated it back then (it was a very bad german translation).<p>4 weeks ago I grabbed an old copy from our library (this time the american 2nd edition) and now I appreciate how well this book is written.<p>If you have some time, read it. Its a real pleasure!
Two books if that's permitted:<p>1. "Smalltalk-80 The Languange and its Implementation" - They eventually dropped the implementation chapters from the book, but you can still get the original edition used on Amazon if you're curious as to how Smalltalk was implemented (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0201113716/ref=dp_olp_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1209496624&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0201113716/ref=dp_olp...</a>). I'm surprised at how cheap they are, as the book is considered a collector's item.<p>2. "Computer Lib" by Ted Nelson (<a href="http://www.digibarn.com/collections/books/computer-lib/" rel="nofollow">http://www.digibarn.com/collections/books/computer-lib/</a>)<p>And, as a bonus, the TRS-80 Model I Users Manual. I still remember the first "program" the book taught me:<p>10 PRINT "HEY MA, IT WORKS!"<p>20 END
It's kind of an out-lier but Engines of Creation. Not strictly about computers, but it had the first description of hypertext that I had seen.<p>If we really have to go 8-bit then the TI-BASIC manual I had for my 99/4A. I had no secondary storage, so I'd type in 100 lines of code and run it. Then retype it all and make some changes and run it again. And then have to turn the damned thing off (losing everything) because my parents wanted to use the TV. Bastards.
I spent an unbelievable number of hours with William Barden's books on the Z-80. One of them completely fell apart. I loved that CPU. It was the first CPU I ever met.
SICP, of course. Is this a trick question?<p>Oh, 8-bit. The 6809E reference manual. Motorola sent it to me for free when I wrote asking where I could buy it.
Must have been this one: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/2710812/c64users-guide00toc-introduction" rel="nofollow">http://www.scribd.com/doc/2710812/c64users-guide00toc-introd...</a><p>When computers still came with a manual that taught you how to program...
I still use SICP. K&R is a great too. I didn't get them till the 90's though.<p>The book I used the most in the 80's was Chaos by James Gleick. I spent months coding up his mathematical models in basic on my 286. Good times.
i had one that taught 4 (??) basic games on the c64 and spectrum. loved it. thinking about it, that's how i learnt to program. unfortunately i think i might have lent it to someone that didn't use it and didn't return it... :(