BASIC

According to Wikipedia, Bob Albrecht's ''What To Do After You Hit Return, or P.C.C.’s first book of Computer Games'' was first published in 1975 by People's Computer Company. It was handed off to a series of other publishing entities and underwent many printings. Hayden began printing it in 1977; its 5th printing in 1979 was still printed inexpensively on newsprint paper.

Given the growing popularity of BASIC and computers among hobbyists, it is not surprising to see other, even simpler presentations of BASIC in other books. One of them is ''The Little Book of BASIC Style. How to write a program you can read'' was written by John M. Nevison (and self-published by John M. Nevison Associates, 1978) and seeks to echo the simplicity of the ''Elements of Style'' by E. B. White, whom the author invokes in his Preface.

On the other hand there are introductions to BASIC that make extensive use of BASIC as the language of choice: ''Programming for Poets. A Gentle Introduction Using BASIC'', written by Richard Conway and James Archer and published in 1979 by Winthrop Publishers of Cambridge, MA., which is a simplified textbook; and ''BASIC With Style. Programming Proverbs'' by Paul Nagin and Henry F. Ledgard (Hayden Book Co., 1978).

While many early books on BASIC were about pursuing hobbies, we would be remiss not to mention the types of books that helped people organize their lives. Charles D. Sternberg’s BASIC Computer Programs for the Home (1980) was one such book, whose aim was to satisfy “the practical requirements of the home.” The author address the user's desire not to “rely upon the availability of tape or disk-storage devices or any other features that may not be easily come by" and encourages the “modification of these programs to utilize features of your particular machine should present few difficulties." The programs in this book were tested on An Altair 8800b Microcomputer system. The author offers many reassurances of the ease with which programs can be entered, run, used, and even changed. Besides providing home financial programs, for example, and such “kitchen helpmates” as programs to convert recipe quantities, to plan meals according to various diets, to inventory your freezer’s contents, etc., this book provides descriptions of the purpose and functions of each program as well as some details about data entry, outputs, and other commentary. In the introduction the author explains that he eschews “highly efficient routines” in favor of increased “clarity” and a “modularity” which lends itself to easier alteration.

If 1977 and 1978 seem to be turning points in the explosion of publications that mark a turning point in the transmission, there are in the early 1980s more and more books about BASIC in all of its flavors published explicitly with niche audiences in mind, as illustrated by Sterberg's books as well as Zuanich & Lipscomb's ''BASIC Fun with Graphics the Apple Way" and "BASIC Fun with Graphics the IBM/PC Way" (both Avon Books, 1983).