When I bought my first computer, I spent a lot of time looking through the user guide trying to find programming commands that I knew were mentioned there. After several very frustrating searches, I resolved to make my own notes for those parts of the manual that I needed most.
It appears that Professor Peter Morse and Brian Hancock have found the same problem, but their solution goes one stage further as they've written this short book. A small hardbound pocket-sized reference guide for the Electron user, it is good value at £1.99. The forty pages contain a summary of the essential information needed - covering the Basic commands, sound, graphics, colour, input/output instructions, numeric string and trigonometric functions, logical operators, error handling codes and messages, operating system commands and *FX calls.
The book contains no information that cannot be found in the full user guide, but the information is easy to find, it's carefully laid out and the print quality is high. The language is clear and concise, yet does not rely on jargon, and the guide covers all aspects of the machine needed by the Electron enthusiast. Certainly a book worth looking for.
1st December 1985
