Larry and Martin Goldstein really play the numbers in their new book on programming the Apple II.

Although Basic for the Apple II is a good guide to programming, it has a mathematical bent which might lose some potential computer enthusiasts right from the start.

Most of the programming examples are of the type 'If John has two oranges, and Jimmy gives him another three, how would you write a program to predict the outcome of their transaction, using John and Jimmy as variable names?'

It's certainly a valid way to teach programming - it's been successful in maths classes for many years - but if you shy away froom computing's mathematical roots and just want to know how to apply the wonderful mathematical basics of a computer, you'd be tempted to skip ahead several chapters in this book.

'Fun' bits of programming, like graphics and sound, are not dealt with until halfway through the book, by which time the fair-weather programmer may have given up on it and moved onto some other book which tells you in the first chapter how to make your own space invader move across the screen.

Like any good programming book, there are things to do in this one, but in the beginning those tasks tend toward the boring and in the end toward the complex.

In its favour, it can be said that anyone with an abiding desire to give themselves a good grounding in computing on the Apple will find Basic For The Apple II an extremely useful book.

From the beginning, the authors take pains to go through various programming commands and reinforce the reader's knowledge of those commands with endless testing exercises.

The structure is logical and well-presented, but as I said earlier, it may be a bit too plodding for the impatient programmer.

In all, however, it would be a welcome addition to most beginning programmers' libraries on the Apple.