
Classic Usborne Computer Science Books/Comics as PDFs - directionless
https://usborne.com/browse-books/features/computer-and-coding-books/
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ocdtrekkie
I really wish more publishers openly took the approach "we're not monetizing
this anymore, here it is for free". It would help combat the damage of our
extended copyright terms a lot.

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speps
> Scroll down to download free copies of the Usborne 1980s computer books. NB
> these programs don't work on modern computers.

This is sad to read when there are ways to make them run on modern computers!
You'd still have to type the listings though (unless someone OCR'd them
all...).

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npongratz
Indeed. For anyone interested, PC-BASIC might scratch the BASIC-on-modern-
hardware itch:

[http://robhagemans.github.io/pcbasic/](http://robhagemans.github.io/pcbasic/)

From the docs [0]:

" _PC-BASIC is a free, cross-platform interpreter for GW-BASIC, Advanced BASIC
(BASICA), PCjr Cartridge Basic and Tandy 1000 GWBASIC. It interprets these
BASIC dialects with a high degree of accuracy, aiming for bug-for-bug
compatibility. PC-BASIC emulates the most common video and audio hardware on
which these BASICs used to run. PC-BASIC runs plain-text, tokenised and
protected .BAS files._..."

[0]
[http://robhagemans.github.io/pcbasic/doc/2.0/](http://robhagemans.github.io/pcbasic/doc/2.0/)

~~~
Moru
Or you could try GLBasic.com, a BASIC dialect that is cross platform
compileable and fast. Has 3D capabilities too.

~~~
WalterGR
Is it compatible with the code in the books that we’re talking about?

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projectramo
I had a C64 but no software, so I had to make my own by typing out the code
from these books by hand. I love them though be warned that the programs are
much simpler than the covers would lead one to believe.

When I was done, I realized I knew how to code basic. No one had to explain
loops or goto or if after you type it in a few times.

I will add that OCR is not going to help you because a lot of the code was
PEEK and POKE. I suppose your basic interpreter could also emulate the C64
memory space.

~~~
tonyarkles
Yup. I grew up in a solidly blue collar household that didn’t have much money
to spare. We got a Vic-20 at a garage sale, and I learned how to program by
borrowing these books from the public library. Eventually we upgraded to an XT
that came with GWBasic and I was blown away by how much more I could do (640kB
of RAM! I can do anything!)

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open-source-ux
These are really well written guides. They are more readable and enjoyable to
read than many programming books published for adults today.

I've often wondered why programming books don't use simple graphics or
diagrams to illustrate programming concepts. Anyone writing a technical guide
(of any kind) would benefit from reading these as a source of ideas and
inspiration.

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timthorn
Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11051095](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11051095)

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esaym
Interesting. I've got several friends and family that "sell" Usborne books. I
always figured it was just some MLM scam and always just told them no thank
you when they tried to give me a catalog or a link to their really-long-url-
with-numbers.sales.usborne.com page. But they actually look like a decent
company. I'm kind of embarrassed now.

~~~
whatever_dude
Not sure of their business model or their quality now, but content wise they
were definitely a decent company. I grew up learning to code with their books
about 30 years ago and they were great books, really made with care. An almost
heroic effort given the niche market for that at the time.

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SteveSmith16384
A great find. I remember having Machine Code for Beginners (IIRC) which I got
after learning some BASIC. I think it put me off machine code for several
years as it seemed to go on and on about how difficult machine code was. (It
is/was, but some encouragemet would have helped).

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galeos
I used to get these books out of the library when I was about 8 years old.
Unfortunately the code often wouldn't work as I was attempting to use the
BASIC interpreter on my IBM XT. I never understood why but those PEEK and
POKEs can't have helped...

