bp@pixar.uucp (Bruce Perens) (06/02/88)
Thanks to Jake Schwartz for the HP28 info. I just called EduCalc (714-582-2637) to order the two HP-28 books. "Customize Your HP28" is back-ordered while they wait for binding, which leads me to think they publish it themselves. "HP28 Insights" is "not yet available" (where'd you get your copy, Jake?), but they are taking orders on it. Each costs about $25. Bruce Perens
billw@hpcvra.HP.COM (Bill Wickes) (06/11/88)
Yeah, Jake, where did you get your copy?? I'm not sure of the etiquette of posting quasi-commercial messages, so if some all-powerful system administrator wants to blitz this response, he can feel free. "HP-28 Insights" is a detailed exposition of the principles and application of the HP-28C/S that I wrote to fill what I perceived as the lack of such documentation from HP and other sources. It is not a SYSEVAL book; there are only a couple of examples of SYSEVAL, which are already more-or-less public domain with HP's blessing. Rather, the book concentrates on the theory and application of the 28 and its language, illustrated with 100+ real program examples ranging from simple mensuration formulas to recursive sorting algorithms, summation programs that take other programs as arguments, and even a program to plot the Mandelbrot set. After discussing the fundamentals of objects and execution, the book covers the Solver, symbolic math, user defined functions, and general programming, and finishes up with chapters on arrays and lists, and plotting techniques. The book is 350 pages (6"x8.5" spiral bound). I am also the publisher, via the company Larken Publications (4517 NW Queens Ave., Corvallis OR 97330) that my wife and I set up to handle my previous book, "Synthetic Programming on the HP-41C." So I can tell you that the book is currently being printed; we expect to begin shipments to Educalc and other dealers on June 20. We also accept prepaid orders from individuals ($25.00 postpaid). Educalc was kind enough to include HP-28 Insights in their latest catalog, but they misunderstood the publication date and listed it as mid May rather than mid-June. "Customizing Your HP-28C" is much more of a hacker's book on the 28 than HP-28 Insights; the two books complement each other rather than overlapping. If you are interested in POKE-like operations, "Customizing..." is the book for you.