101 Basic Computer Games
by David H. Ahl · first published 1974
30% recommend70% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A collection of short BASIC games meant to be typed in by hand, teaching programming along the way. It serves as a hands-on way to start coding and has sparked an interest in computing for many.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Public domain per <a href="https://blog.adafruit.com/2022/06/16/david-ahl-places-all-his-classic-computing-publications-into-the-public-domain/" rel="nofollow">https://blog.adafruit.com/2022/06/16/david-ahl-places-all-his-classic-computing-publications-into-the-public-domain/</a>
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101 BASIC Computer Games by David H. Ahl. This was a book published in the 70s by DEC. I vividly remember at either the very beginning or the very end of the book there was a section on how to send submissions for consideration…
on “Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?” ↗…sure, but I think Mr. Wozniak is referring to the book edited by David H. Ahl, BASIC Computer Games: http://atariarchives.org/basicgames/ Notes on the page mention the book was "[a]lso published as 101 BASIC Computer Games". This book happened to be a great influence on me. Reading it in grade school gave me a small taste of what fun programming can be. I especially liked how some of the programs showed how simple rules…
on “How Steve Wozniak Wrote BASIC for the Original Apple From Scratch” ↗…really set up for someone to actually learn how to program a computer. Anyone wanting to program the computer would need to find another book (or magazine) to learn programming. Even if that book were 101 BASIC Computer Games (which is an excellent mechanic, I learned a lot typing in BASIC programs). Every computer today comes with a web browser, a web browser that can take them to any of a long list of sites where they can…
on “All about QBasic and QuickBasic” ↗Don't forget Ahl's "101 BASIC Computer Games"! I spent hours and hours making stuff written for DEC/MS-BASIC work on my TI-99/4A with its limited language implementation.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC_Computer_Games PDF: http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/_Books/101_BASIC_...…
on “30 years later, QBasic is still the best” ↗That's what made "101 Basic Computer Games" so successful. Type in the game code, often just a few lines, and you've got a working game!
on “Teaching how to code is broken” ↗1) I love the aesthetics and the game play. First time I learned about this was reading a copy of 101 basic computer games during summer break. I didn't have a computer back then but was fascinated by the book, so I pried my parents until they got me one just so that I could program games. 2) I ported the game to a mobile…
Oh my, this is so amazing. I can't wipe the grin off my face. I never thought I was would see Hammurabi (https://github.com/maurymarkowitz/101-BASIC-Computer-Games/b...) again! With this I can pinpoint the exact first bug I created, and debugged. The year was 1991 +/- 1, the place was Canberra Australia. For unknown reasons that changed my life forever, my Dad…
on “101 BASIC Computer Games” ↗Literally the first line of the README explains why: > This folder contains the programs found in the March 1975 3rd printing of David Ahl's 101 BASIC Computer Games, published by Digital Equipment Corp.
on “101 BASIC Computer Games” ↗They built a Route 93 bypass around Manchester, NH and a new mall in 1980, not long after that I bought a copy of "101 BASIC Computer Games" from the Digital [1] Store there (really!) This was the minicomputer edition that David Ahl had published when he worked at DEC, not the microcomputer edition that he produced at Creative Computing…
on “101 BASIC Computer Games” ↗…version: https://undefinedvalue.com/lunar-for-c-and-rust.html System/36 guide: https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_ibmsystem3rogrammingWi... Possible source for games in David H. Ahl in his book 101 BASIC Computer Games.
on “Reviving Classic Unix Games: A 20-Year Journey Through Software Archaeology” ↗Here is an old Black Jack game listing from waaay back in the 70s, According to 101 BASIC computer Games it originated from DEC - author unknown. http://www.vintage-basic.net/bcg/blackjack.bas Anyway, reasonably complex, supports up to seven players has insurance, splits and double downs. If you ever…
on “Ask HN: Refactoring a BASIC Blackjack Game from the 70s” ↗Nice, I remember vividly being 11 years old and typing this line by line into a Commodore 64, carefully reading it from a ragged copy of “101 BASIC Computer Games”. Took me three days to get it right. I slept next to the computer so my dad wouldn’t turn it off by mistake. Later ended up porting it to Pascal and adding graphics, in an attempt to learn the language.
on “Why am I wasting time on EndBASIC?” ↗…was my first computer, putting the kit (!) together with my dad. Didn’t work so sent it back and got a pre made one, found out later that at least 1/3rd of the kits didn’t work. That, going through 101 Basic Computer Games, and typing in the esoteric Beagle Bros commands in their ads are fond memories.
on “Sir Clive Sinclair has died” ↗What I'd really like to see are the multiplayer games from the original 101 BASIC Computer Games ported to the web. I was too young to understand how those worked as a kid, and my dad's copy had some printing issues (occasional pages have white streaks across it).
on “A repository of “BASIC Computer Games” code in modern languages” ↗BASIC Computer Games != 101 BASIC Computer Games, the latter of which had some programs that were designed to work on time-sharing/mainframes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC_Computer_Games
on “A repository of “BASIC Computer Games” code in modern languages” ↗