This package consists of a book - 256 pages (could this be significant?) and a cassette of the programs which are used as examples within the book - 81 programs in all plus a Title program which is similar to, but even less inspiring than, the Intro program which comes on the Welcome cassette. Having said that, however, the contents of the actual book are really excellent.

The book is in the same series and uses the same techniques as the NEC book 30 Hour Basic. It aims to lead you into the world of assembly language programming by getting you to do practical exercises, with the emphasis strongly on 'hands on' and 'brain engaged'. Each chapter contains self-assessment questions with answers, carefully stated objectives, and an assignment.

The book is spiral-bound like the User Guide, which makes it easy to use. It is well set out and makes good use of green and black printing and different typefaces, though some of the diagrams contain handwritten titles which make it a little untidy in places.

The programs are well presented, using lower case for variable names and labels, and using lots of comments.

Ten chapters cover: number representation - hex and binary notation; addition and subtraction; jumps, loops and branches; addressing modes; multiplication and division; lists and tables; the stack, CALL, USR and masking; operating system calls; tough stuff - 16-bit multiplication and division, plus sorting a Basic array; round-up - a useful final section on hints and tips, and errors to avoid.

Two complaints come to mind. First, in an exhortation to follow the text methodically at the beginning of the book, the author says that if you don't the only way to find points you miss is through the index - but there isn't one! (Mind you, I suppose that just emphasises his point.) Second, since the BBC has such a powerful operating system it seems a shame more use is not made of it in teaching the basics of assembly language programming. I find that students are more excited by writing a machine code program to draw lines on the screen and change colours, than to add and subtract hexadecimal numbers.

Despite the complaints, I think it is an excellent book and have already recommended it to a number of people, and will continue to do so.