Introduction to graphics for the IBM Personal Computer. (book reviews) Susan Glinert-Cole.

Introduction to Graphic for the IBM Personal Computer

Graphics

The four graphics books I have here span the range from puerile to quite technical. The worst of the lot is Introduction to Graphics for the IBM Personal Computer by Grillo and Robertson from Wm. C. Brown Company. If you eagerly opened the cover of this book without reading the subhead, you could swear it was written for the TRS-80; there ins't a mention anywhere of the color capabilities of the PC. Most of the examples are text/block graphics, with such useful and aesthetically overwhelming examples as a Virgo zodiac sign drawn in zeros and a smiley face drawn crudely with block graphics (cutely titled "for my last impression . . . librarian in Boston's combat zone'). Having once or twice been at that location by some temporal miscalculation, I know perfectly well that mobody, with the possible exception of a nine-foot jujitsu expert, would lounge around that area with a wimpy smile on the puss.

The eight chapters consist mostly of example Basic programs, without much explanation as to why these things are being done. Many of the programs are bizarrely scientific; example: display the varying concentrations of up to six ionic species that may coexist in a solution of varying acidity (note that the may here should be the more grammatical can). Instead of at least taking advantage of the special graphics characters in the PC, the authors actually produced the graphics with number characters. If you really need a silhouette of a witch done in percentage signs, then by all means run right out and buy this book. Otherwise, read on.

Review Grade: C