sjthomas@cup.portal.com (Stephen J Thomas) (09/21/90)
"HP41/HP48 TRANSITIONS" OVERVIEW William Wickes' new book "HP41/HP48 Transitions" is now available -- in the U.S. selling at $16.95. The spiral-bound 150 page text illustrates the 'evolution' from the HP41 to the HP48 both in terms of hardware and functionality. Both 41 users who chose to bypass the HP28 and experienced 28 users will find "Transitions" a helpful and informative aid toward efficient use of the HP48. Following is a list of the six main chapters, along with a few of the topics included in each (taken from the table of contents): 1. Introduction -- notation, 41 to 48 evolution, 48 extensions of 41 features 2. The HP48 Stack -- manipulations, managing unlimited stack, ENTER 3. Variables -- global variables, lists & arrays, port variables 4. HP 48 Programming Principles -- structure, structured programming, conditionals, loops, error handling, local variables 5. Program Development -- editing, starting & stopping, I/O, key assignments 6. Program Conversion -- storage registers, replacing GTO, Command Equivalent Table Most topics start with their implementation on the HP41, and progress to related operations on the HP48. Thirty-nine programs are listed in the Program Index. Most are short routines -- many providing capabilities to emulate 41 commands. A disk (IBM 5.25" or 3.5", or Mac 3.5") containing all the 48 programs is available from the publisher for US$10.00 -- but they are short enough to be keyed in manually. A checksum is given for each 48 program. Several typographical errors have been found. Thanks to William Wickes and Jake Schwartz for their contributions to this list: PAGE CORRECTION 10 Middle of page: 'X^3-5X^2+ ...' Should be: 'X^3-5*X^2+ ...' 31 The checksum for RECIP is EA53 68 Under the program box: "(RTOP takes ..." Should be: "(RC->R takes ..." 80 The checksum for GCD is E895 104 6th paragraph, lines 3-4: "Keycode rp to ...; s is the ..." Should be: "Keycode rc to ...; c is the ..." 105 11th line: "PSE returns 0 (true)." Should be: "PSE returns 0 (false)." 114 The checksum for SIZE41 should be 7C28. 119 REGSWAP is missing a "+" at the end of the 11th line, following REG41 mid OVER SIZE SUB. The checksum is correct. 121 The checksum for ATOX should be 7F29 OBC Bottom "The HP-28 Stack" should be "The HP 48 Stack" Congratulations to Dr. Wickes for producing another interesting, informative, well-organized and easily understood book. I'm looking forward to "HP 48 Insights"! Stephen J Thomas sjthomas@cup.portal.com sun!portal!cup.portal.com!sjthomas