If you have just bought a computer and want to learn how to program it, you'll want a book of this type.

The style is the usual chatty American, and introduces itself with: "This book is for you!" It continues in the same vein with many cartoons of grinning computers.

The instructions are rather old-fashioned and reminiscent of the books I learned programming from on a TRS-80 II.

Predictably, it starts with the PRINT statement. Later arrays, single and double dimensioned, are covered and explained in the usual way of boxes and pigeon holes.

Other subjects covered are subroutines, functions and INPUT. The appendices contain a description of the Basic, a glossary of computer terms and a section on the differences between the various dialects of Basic. The latter is quite important since most machines vary in the details of implementation.

Most computers, nowadays, come with a manual that contains a complete description of the Basic. They also usually contain an introduction to using this language. If your computer has a good manual, this book is probably redundant. Even if the manual is not very good, the £11.65 price-tag makes it rather overpriced.

Kenn Garroch