BASIC Computer Games: Paper-Based File Sharing

BASIC Computer Games (Microcomputer Edition) by David Ahl was one of the first computer books to make a lasting impression on my malleable young mind. I spent hundreds of hours keying in the programs on these pages, teaching myself some rudimentary coding skills in the process. In fact, I still think that studying someone else's well-written code is one of the most important learning tools for a programmer.

One thing I really miss about those early days is the proliferation of more-or-less standard programming tools. Nearly every machine had BASIC in ROM, offering a common starting point for would-be coders.

I had almost forgotten about this book until Paul Bissex sent me a link to an article on his site. His writeup includes a printout of the old Mugwump program (which I remember running on an old DEC VAX) and he's even taken the time to translate some of the programs into different languages.

BASIC Computer Games [thanks for the flashback, Paul!]