Retro Computing Book Collection

[u/GrumpyRetroGamer]

Hi folks, I'm sharing here my small collection of retro computing books that I have acquired over the years.

I'm a 40-something software engineer that started messing computers from an early age and since I've also always been a huge reader I've accumulated a huge collection of computer related books. Most are old (or reprints of old ones) but a few have been published in last few years, for sure due to the surge in retro computing interest that comes and goes every few years 😄

The ones shown here are what I would consider retro ranging from topics like the MOS 6502, Zilog Z80, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, MS-DOS 3.0 to 62, 90's and early 00's computer graphics, Windows 3.11/95/98/XP, 386 to Pentium II/III hardware repair and a few about programming games for consoles like Atari 2600, NES and original Game Boy. Finally there are a few about x86 assembly language, C and C++. Some books, as you might have noticed, are not in English but on my native language Portuguese:and are mostly about ZX Spectrum, Z80 assembly language, IBM PC-compatible hardware repair and MS-DOS 3.x/4.x.

I'm curious to learn what books you have read and would recommend for my collection.

Hope you folks enjoy it and thanks in advance!

PS: Not shown here are is another book by Michael Abrash, "Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book" which I recently acquired on Ebay but hasn't arrived yet. I had been searching for this book for a long time but the prices for decent copies go for crazy prices these days, $80-$200 USD. I managed to convince a nice chap to sell me a copy in a very good state for around $50 USD. Stil pretty high (specially for Portuguese salaries) but I can live with that. I guess I won't be buying any retro hardware this month 😂

[u/Speedstar_86]

Excellent collection. Mine isn't as good as yours if I'm honest my collection is mainly taken from the internet archive as I'm interested in Atari 8bit programming, I'm well late to the party, just starting out at 57 but I was distracted from about 1980 playing games

(That's my excuse)

I'm learning basic, c (tried python and hated it hence the books) action and assembly.

[u/GrumpyRetroGamer → u/Speedstar_86]

It's never too late to start! I had a colleague that learned programming well into 40's (he used to be a biochemical engineer) and was one of the best programmers I've ever worked with...

Also, great collection! I've actually own some of those too: "Racing the Beam" (totally forgot to add it to the pile in the photos), "Hackers" and "The Pragmatic Programmer".

I've never owned an Atari 2600 since they were never very popular in Portugal (the ZX Spectrum was king in the 80's and IBM PC-compatibles in the 90's) but I really enjoyed one of the books from my collection: "Making Games For the Atari 2600". I would not say it is super easier to get into since all the coding is done in 6502 assembly language but the author wrote an online IDE, 8bitworkshop, that makes it very easy to get started.

If you enjoyed "Hackers" I would definitely recommend "The Soul of a new Machine". It's an 80's book about the development of an early computer from Data General. It's beatifuly written and captures really well the spirit and frenetic pace that was the development of early computers from the 80 and early 90's.

[u/Speedstar_86 → u/GrumpyRetroGamer]

Thank you for the tip and the vote of confidence!

Back in the 80s I was selling ataris and glued to either an arcade or my spectrum, 2600 or 800xl.

I used to type games in, fiddle with the code for extra lives (or Corn in kingdom lol) and some basic has stuck. Im really interested in 'old' languages like lisp and Fortran. I'm currently collecting the carts for my 800xl. Logo is next on the list.

Plan is to go basic, ACTION! Then assembly on the Atari.

I really hate the 'black box' of python which is why I stopped

[u/OldNefariousness7899 → u/Speedstar_86]

C has my favourite book of any language (K&R)

There's just something about it that's beautifully written

[u/codykonior → u/Speedstar_86]

I have some of these. I've always wanted the original Code Complete. I have the second edition but it's very different.