mercury@ut-ngp.UTEXAS (Larry E. Baker) (09/02/85)
[I have moved this reply to net.micro where it obviously belongs]
I do not agree with your statements and observations about Doctor
Dobb's Journal.
I agree that it is not the magazine it once was, and that its coverage
is now somewhat more middle-of-the-road. But I still find it a
refreshing departure from the over-hyped, trendy, let's-not-state-a-firm-
opinion-or-we'll-piss-off-the-advertisers, try-to-appeal-to-the-largest
of-all-possible-dimwit-audiences PC-WORLD, BYTE type presentation.
As far as I'm concerned, and I admit to having easily satisfied
tastes, DDJ is perfectly adequate for its stated audience -- also
different from what it once was, and appropriately so. The computer
industry has changed significantly since the days of "enourmous" 16K
memories and cassette-based BASIC interpreters, back when DDJ (Then
DD's J of Computer Calsthenics and Orthodoneta: Running Light without
Overbyte) was born.
As an example I point out this month's Dr. Dobb's Clinic: A summary
of papers on compiler design; the fastest way to request disk input in
MSDOS (I thought the listing and critique of Compiler papers was
*outstanding*, and I have not seen this level of rigor in *any* other
microcomputer journal, *including* BYTE).
As for other "hacker" type journals, I have found these to be quite
interesting, and definitely in the "old" Dr. Dobbs' spirit:
Micro Cornucopia
Computer Language
Programmer's Journal (PJ)
DTACK Grounded.
And, of course, DDJ itself.