jlh@loral.UUCP (The Happy Hacker) (02/27/88)
I have in front of me a PC AT with a nice empty hard disk. Sitting next
to it are the requirements for a project that needs this shiny new toy.
And, sitting above it is a nice, empty bookshelf. So tell me, if you
were spending the boss's money what books would you put on this shelf?
What about utilities to put on the hard drive? I currently use vi,
Microsoft C 5.0, Procomm, and xtree. I'm pretty good with C
and 8086 assembly (the project will be written in C) and know enough
about dos to boot up my infocom games. I'm not interested in stuff
aimed at beginners or blue suits, I wanna know how to make my hardware/
software jump through hoops. Any advice would be appreciated.
Jim
--
Jim Harkins
Loral Instrumentation, San Diego
{ucbvax, ittvax!dcdwest, akgua, decvax, ihnp4}!sdcsvax!sdcc6!loral!jlhajmyrvold@violet.waterloo.edu (Alan Myrvold) (02/29/88)
In article 12598 of comp.sys.ibmpc Jim Harkins (jlh@loral.UUCP) writes > And, sitting above it is a nice, empty bookshelf. So tell me, if you > were spending the boss's money what books would you put on this shelf? I have bought quite a few books over the past few years (my money, not the boss's). Some were good - some classify as turkeys. Here goes the recommendations. Books : ------- 1) A legitimate manual for each piece of software which you use regularly. This includes a real DOS manual. DOS is probably the single most pirated program around. 2) DOS Technical Reference 3) The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie. A must have. 4) Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC by Peter Norton. Some people would disagree with this one, but my copy is almost worn out from use. I also have Advanced MS DOS by Ray Duncan, but I much prefer Peter Norton's book. 5) Handbook of Software & Hardware Interfacing for the IBM PC's by Jeffrey P. Royer. Lots of assembly language examples - good even if you aren't interfacing with the hardware. 6) Assembly Language Techinques for the IBM PC by Alan R. Miller. Not a bad book. Good introduction. Have a table of 8088 instructions with descriptions handy - because they aren't in the book. And - If you need to do any numerical analysis : 7) Numerical Recipes - The Art of Scientific Computing. by Press, Flannery, Teukolsky, and Vetterling. What a great introduction to all sorts of numerical topics !!! 8) Matrix Computations by Gene H. Golub and Charles F. Van Loan Best book on the subject. A classic. Software : ---------- 1) MS Assembler version 5.0. Big improvement over previous versions. 2) MS or Turbo C (I won't get into the big debate ... both are good) Competition sure does improve the market. 3) Lesuire Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. Haven't bought my copy for the IBM PC yet - but I loved it on my friend's ATARI. Hope these recommendations help. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Alan Myrvold ajmyrvold@violet.waterloo.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------
indra@amdcad.AMD.COM (Indra K. Singhal) (03/01/88)
In article <1559@loral.UUCP> jlh@loral.UUCP (The Happy Hacker) writes: >I have in front of me a PC AT with a nice empty hard disk. Sitting next >to it are the requirements for a project that needs this shiny new toy. > > I'm not interested in stuff >aimed at beginners or blue suits, I wanna know how to make my hardware/ >software jump through hoops. Any advice would be appreciated. > Jim >{ucbvax, ittvax!dcdwest, akgua, decvax, ihnp4}!sdcsvax!sdcc6!loral!jlh In response to your last request... get DESQview. I waited a long time before I bit the bullet... some bullet for my $75 (mail order inc. p&h) I have never bought a product that delivered so much. True multitasking of vanilla DOS software and done well !! I really dont know how people do without it. I should have got it much sooner. I am really happy with it. -- +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Indra K. Singhal |The truth doesn't mean anything | {ucbvax,decwrl,allegra}!amdcad!indra | | amdcad!indra@decwrl.dec.com | It just IS ! |
psc@lznv.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (03/02/88)
< If you lined all the news readers up end-to-end, they'd be easier to shoot. > In article <5409@watdragon.waterloo.edu>, ajmyrvold@violet.UUCP writes: > In article 12598 of comp.sys.ibmpc Jim Harkins (jlh@loral.UUCP) writes > > And, sitting above it is a nice, empty bookshelf. So tell me, if you > > were spending the boss's money what books would you put on this shelf? > > 1) A legitimate manual for each piece of software which you use > regularly. This includes a real DOS manual. DOS is probably > the single most pirated program around. Hear, hear! > 4) Programmer's Guide to the IBM PC by Peter Norton. Some people > would disagree with this one, but my copy is almost worn out > from use. I also have Advanced MS DOS by Ray Duncan, but I > much prefer Peter Norton's book. I've read both, and prefer the Duncan book. Also consider the MS-DOS ENCYCLOPEDIA, finally out. I just saw a review of this in PC WEEK. > 1) MS Assembler version 5.0. Big improvement over previous versions. > > 2) MS or Turbo C (I won't get into the big debate ... both are good) > Competition sure does improve the market. Let me point out that if you buy MASM 5.0, you can use its copy of the Codeview debugger with Turbo C. You need to ask TC to to make .MAP files, and you need to use the MS linker, not TLINK or the integrated environment. If you get Turbo C, make sure you get version 1.5. > 3) Lesuire Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. Haven't bought > my copy for the IBM PC yet - but I loved it on my friend's ATARI. I'm very wary of having *any* games on an office PC, even ones you buy with your own money and bring in from home. It's not the loss of productivity that scares me; it's the all-too-often piracy that results. If you desperately want something to give you a break from the rest of the world, do something that gets your butt off your chair, your fingers off the keyboard, and your eyes off the screen. Sitting in the same position, with the same kinds of repetitive finger motions, and with very little eye movement can cause short term fatigue and long term stress. > Alan Myrvold ajmyrvold@violet.waterloo.edu -Paul S. R. Chisholm, {ihnp4,cbosgd,allegra,rutgers}!mtune!lznv!psc AT&T Mail !psrchisholm, Internet psc@lznv.att.com I'm not speaking for my employer, I'm just speaking my mind.