Pascal programs for games and graphics. (book reviews) Stephen Arrants.

Pascal Programs for Games and Graphics

Pascal is not my favorite language. Ballyhooed as the replacement for Basic, Pascal makes a valiant effort, but seems to be treading water. If you are the advanturous type, Pascal Programs for Games and Graphics by Tom Swan is a good choice. Though not an introductory book, it could be used by a beginner. Swan's way seems to be total immersion--the first program starts on page 4. Three features add to the value of Pascal Programs. A Designer program lets you create and edit custom character sets. Credit and Touchup are quick and powerful drawing and painting programs. Both can be used to create and edit graphics images pixel by pixel. The author includes his own extension to Pascal, Xtrastuff, which adds extra power and versatility. And for those who get lost, a comprehensive review of every Pascal command is included. 64K RAM is required along with the Apple Pascal Language System. From Hayden Publishing.

One unfortunate fact of computer use is that few packages can be integrated with others. Because of this, Bob Frankston of Software Arts developed the DIF format as a way of allowing easier integration. DIF, or Data Interchange Format, is not a product or software package that you buy. It is, rather a standard way of exchanging data between different computer programs. With DIF, data used in a VisiCalc spreadsheet can be used in a DB Master application or in PFS: Graph. Over 70 different software products use DIF.

Review Grade: B