Roy Atherton wouldn't like this, in fact his whole body would probably turn a funny colour. If you are a structured programming freak this book is not for you. It's unwise to criticise the programming style of others - let he who is without sin, etc - but there is so much in this book to make the eyeballs bulge that I can't resist.

It appears the authors have gone out of their way to irritate structure fans. I can only suggest that the programs were written on a machine running a rather crude dialect of Basic, and then modified to run on the BBC. Structuring them would have meant totally rewriting them. For instance, how would you like to sort out control in this sequence?

1090 IF L > NN THEN 820 1100 GOTO 750 1110 CLS:PRINT''CHR$(134)"FINISHING" 1120 GOTO 230

Another pointer to a non-BBC Basic being used is the fact that ELSE is never used - quite remarkable in a series of programs which test so many conditions!

It's also a shame, since the program ideas are quite interesting. There are fourteen of them including accounts, stock control, trend analysis, a spreadsheet, and one to compare two data series using the impressive-sounding Wald-Wolfowitz technique.

There is a brief introduction to each program, notes on using it, keying-in tips, a short section on its design, the listing and suggestions for modifications.

The book is nicely laid out and well written. I just wish the authors had taken the trouble to restructure the programs for the BBC.