A magazine survives because people like it enough to buy it. The magazine has to align itself with the needs or wishes of its readership. In respect of a computer magazine one of these wishes is free games, another is programming tips. Both are important, especially to beginners. Many magazines do however tend to get too professional, or too in-depth and so cause the amateur to feel left out or unwanted. The feeling is then 'My little listing is childish compared to that' and so another contributor is lost and the great sadness is that with a bit of encouragement and lots of tips on technique, that programmer could well be a future Chris Crawford or a new Scott Adams. New techniques do not always originate from the masters of the art, sometimes you get too tied down with the norm and it takes a question such
as 'What if ... ?', born out of innocence, to open others' eyes.
A professional programmer needs a long time to write and debug a new program and often does not have the time to experiment. He has to rely on people who have the time finding out odd titbits for him to use. Guess who has the time to fiddle about on the keyboard? Why
us - you and me - the amateurs.
I will admit that in some respects I am still a child. I really miss those 5 or 6 line programs with flashing colours and zaps or bangs. Where have they all gone?
I remember seeing them in ANALOG not so long ago. Will PAGE 6 and its readers help to save this endangered species?
I have included a small listing for this article, not with flashes and bangs, just a case of putting my bytes where my mouth is!
I hope that this will stimulate the rest of you to write in. After all, it's a chance to see your name in print and what's wrong with fame anyway?
No apologies are made for the lack of neatness in flow, even though I should have known better. If you decide to try it out, don't write in to the Editor with " He should have done . . ." Send in your own program instead.
I am sure the Editor will forgive you if the line numbers are not neatly spaced. The listing was condensed from another of my programs thus
explaining the odd line numbers. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!
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