80 practical time-saving programs for the TRS-80. (book reviews) Steve Gray.

80 Practical Time-Saving Programs for the TRS-80

Once more, a collection of Basic programs; and once more, programs you may never need--unless you're a mathematician, CPA, statistician or electronics technician.

The 80 programs are divided into five groups: Numbers (polar to rectangular conversion, complex functions, numerical integration), Finance (future value, loan amount, sinking fund), Statistics (permutations, ungrouped data, exponential curve fit), Electronics (gamma match, matching networks, microstrip), Geometry (inverse hyperbolic functions, great-circle calculations). Three appendixes provide a summary of Basic statements and commands, powers of two, and hex/decimal integer conversion.

Each program is accompanied by a description of what it does, a listing, a sample run and, where appropriate, graphs or partial schematics. The writing is pedestrian but serviceable.

If you work in one of the areas addressed by these programs, you might find some use for this book. But by now you probably already have a couple that provide most or all the standard short programs you need in the five categories. At least eight similar books have been reviewed here since review #1 in the Nov/Dec 1978 issue.

Review Grade: C