Proposal Reviews from MIT Press
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10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 is a deep reading of a one-line BASIC Commodore 64 program. By analyzing this short program from multiple viewpoints, the book explains how to read code deeply and why one would want to do so. Instead of discussing ''software'' abstractly, this book takes a specific program for a particular platform as its object of study. At the same time, the book considers how the program engages broad questions of computational interest: randomness, iteration, visualization. | 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 is a deep reading of a one-line BASIC Commodore 64 program. By analyzing this short program from multiple viewpoints, the book explains how to read code deeply and why one would want to do so. Instead of discussing ''software'' abstractly, this book takes a specific program for a particular platform as its object of study. At the same time, the book considers how the program engages broad questions of computational interest: randomness, iteration, visualization. | ||
| − | The reading shows the value of considering the very specific (the Commodore 64, BASIC, the context of creation, and even the PETSCII character set) to understand how a program can reveal the particular qualities of a platform, of a means of publication and dissemination, and of programmers during a particular era of computing. The book also connects this one specific program to computational practices and concepts across platforms and throughout history, providing insight into what is compelling about computation from an aesthetic standpoint, why people would write computer programs of this sort at any time, and why it is valuable to read computer programs at many levels, with an awareness of their contexts of creation, transmission, and use. | + | The reading shows the value of considering specifics (the Commodore 64, BASIC, the context of creation, the PETSCII character set) to understand how a program can reveal the particular qualities of a platform, of a means of publication and dissemination, and of programmers during a particular era of computing. The book also connects this one specific program to computational practices and concepts across platforms and throughout history, providing insight into what is compelling about computation from an aesthetic standpoint, why people would write computer programs of this sort at any time, and why it is valuable to read computer programs at many levels, with an awareness of their contexts of creation, transmission, and use. |
