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Applesoft programers

Submitted by Jim_GS on March 28, 2008 - 3:36am. Apple II

I need a few recommendations......

A good friend was forced into retirement a few months back due to a nasty job related back injury. He is no longer able to pursue a lot of his favorite physical activities. We were talking one evening after he had been released from the hospital and I mentioned that I still messed around with my Apple II computers. He had been a big Apple fan twenty years back, but like many went on to other things. He thought it might be fun to start using an old Apple II again so I sent him a spare Apple IIc I had.

Last month he told me he had always wanted to learn to program in Applesoft but never really got around to it, but now he wanted to give it a try. He asked if I had any old books on Applesoft I could loan him. I did have one and sent him my old text from a college Applesoft programing class I took in the early eighties. Well, I forgot how boring and in a few spots plain sketchy the text was until he reminded me Smiling....I forgot that it was the professor and not the text that made the class good.

I am really at a loss for recommending a good introduction book to Applesoft...he mentioned a few off of Ebay, but again I had not used them so advise from me would not mean much.
He is hunting for a book that is clearly written, uses plenty of good code examples and covers Applesoft fairly well. Are there any good books any of you would recommend he keep his eye out for on Ebay?

Thanks....Jim

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mmphosis's picture

re: Applesoft programmers

Submitted by mmphosis on March 28, 2008 - 11:37am.

I first learned to program using The Applesoft Tutorial...

It helped that I was thirteen years old. My friend was learning to program from the same book. We both wrote games. Two player games were the best. On a whim, we could break out of the game and add a new feature.

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Simon27's picture

This website is full of PDF m

Submitted by Simon27 on March 28, 2008 - 5:36pm.

This website is full of PDF manuals for almost all of the vintage computers:

http://1000bit.net/support/manuali/manuali.asp

Select Apple Computer, Inc from the pop up menu and on that page are a few manuals for Apple BASIC and under the Apple IIe section there is the book recommended above by mmphosis.

Hope this is of use.

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mmphosis's picture

programming is fun again

Submitted by mmphosis on March 28, 2008 - 7:25pm.

similiar thread

Simon27 wrote:
This website is full of PDF manuals for almost all of the vintage computers:

http://1000bit.net/support/manuali/manuali.asp

Select Apple Computer, Inc from the pop up menu and on that page are a few manuals for Apple BASIC and under the Apple IIe section there is the book recommended above by mmphosis.

I didn't find the exact The Applesoft Tutorial manual on that site, but the one you noted under the Apple IIe section A Touch of Applesoft BASIC is similiar, and perhaps better.

Your friend could always learn Python :)

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Applesoft

Submitted by Jim_GS on March 28, 2008 - 10:34pm.

Thanks guys, but not what I'm trying to find for him...he has A Touch of Applesoft Basic and it is giving him a taste of Applesoft programing, but I am looking for something a bit different. Like you guys I used Apples tutorial, read more articles than I can count out of Nibble and InCider, plus talked with friends who were learning. At points it was not an easy road. I am trying to find something to really keep his interest, I live a good 150 miles from him so I can't just stop by and help him out.

To give you an example ( and maybe one of you may remember the name of this book ) I got a worn copy of a book from a buddy about writing games in Applesoft...yeah, I was going to be the next Lord British back then Smiling Anyway the book explained things about pokes, peeks and calls clearly with a lot of code examples instead of sticking them in the back of the book in a table. I still remember learning to create a creaking door sound effect using the click produced by peek ( -16336).
Point is that it made it fun and kept my interest. I learned not just how to program a half way decent game in applesoft, but to write other types of programs from what I had learned. Guess I trying to find something for him a bit more engaging then the Apple tutorials. And when he's done he wiil have a few programs he build from the ground up through the course of the book.

Again thanks....and if any may remember the name of the book I would love to know. The only concrete game it had you work on that I vaguely remember was called Star Trader...were you brought everything you had learned in the diiferent game projects into this one game. It would probably be ideal for my friend.

By the way...never did finish the game that was going to make me famous and rich Smiling

Jim

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2 suggestions

Submitted by mutant_pie on March 29, 2008 - 2:38pm.

I know where you're coming from. (I had no plans to write an Ultima clone, but rather an interactive Star Trek game with green alien dancing women Sticking out tongue, right after I did a port of the arcade game Food Fight).

Anyway, looking back on Applesoft days, there are two things that would have helped me tremendously if I'd had them. A more structured programming philosophy/knowledge, and a appreciation for advance design. Get your friend a college text book on 6502 programming for the Apple II's, and a book on how to write and use a flow chart.

Another idea is for him to follow one of your own examples, get the machine language routine for generating simple tones (it's short) and callable from Applesoft. Once he has that, then it's fairly straight forward to make music from Applesoft.

Mutant_Pie

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Go to http://1000bit.net/supp

Submitted by TV4Fun on April 9, 2008 - 7:58pm.

Go to http://1000bit.net/support/manuali/manuali.asp, select Apple Computer, pick out the Apple II Reference Manual, the Basic Programming Manual, and the Basic Programming Reference Guide. Those three books have about 99% of the information you need to do absolutely anything on the Apple II.

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Apple II Books

Submitted by nickkniola on April 13, 2008 - 5:03pm.

I got the book Applesoft Basic for the Apple II and IIe by Lois Graff. It is a great book that has taught me a great deal of the basics and other things in using Applesoft BASIC. You can get it on amazon.

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gsmcten's picture

The Peeks and Pokes Book

Submitted by gsmcten on August 27, 2008 - 4:46pm.

Jim,

I believe that the book you may be talking about was one that was written by one of the guys that ran Beagle Bros. I'll have to go looking for it, but I cannot remember the name right now.

Best Regards,
Steven (gsmcten)

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"Apple ][.....It's ALIVE!!!!!"

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