

Ask HN: Which book introduced you to programming? - theBeaver


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ColinWright
"Programming the Z80" by Rodnay Zaks. I read it when it was first published,
and it was the first real programming book I'd ever read.

I'd written programs before this, inventing my own language and hardware, then
emulating the hardware to have it do things like playing tic-tac-toe and
Conway's Game of Life. It was slow, but served me in good stead when I built
my first real computer from NAND gates, and then subsequently working in
safety critical hard-realtime embedded systems.

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LanceHaynie
"The Applesoft Basic Programmer's Reference Manual"

I was around 10 and my parents bought a used Apple II and this book came with
it. I thought it was the coolest thing to make a program, even if it was super
basic. I wish I would have kept the book, my parents ended up throwing out the
book and the computer a few years later.

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JoePantoliano
"C++ in 24 hours"

My mother took a course on programming, she was the best in her class. That
was the first time I ever saw someone sit at a computer and program.

[http://www.amazon.com/Sams-Teach-Yourself-Hours-
Edition/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Sams-Teach-Yourself-Hours-
Edition/dp/0672333317)

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SyneRyder
"All About Computers" by Helen Davies & Graham Round:
[http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Computers-Helen-
Davies/dp/08...](http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Computers-Helen-
Davies/dp/0860208001/)

My parents got it for me when I was very young, and (if memory serves
correctly) it had some program listings in BASIC in the back of the book. I
must've typed them into our Apple IIe computer and started to learn
programming by modifying the code.

[As for being introduced to C, the book "Using C" by Clint Hicks from Que
Publishing is what helped me get started and get my head around the concept of
pointers. I have tons of programming books now, but that one has a very
distinct crack down the spine from regular use.]

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louthy
BBC Micro Model B User Guide

Absolutely amazing as a 10 year old who'd just got his first computer. I
soaked it all in, and in return it gave me a career.

PDF:
[http://bbc.nvg.org/doc/BBCUserGuide-1.00.pdf](http://bbc.nvg.org/doc/BBCUserGuide-1.00.pdf)

Info: [http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/BBC-
Microcompute...](http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/BBC-
Microcomputer-User-Guide/)

------
bewe42
The first book I can remember was "Basic Computer Games"

[http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/](http://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/).
Esp. the star trek games brings back so many nice memories

