This book is aimed at the younger programmer - there's no age range mentioned on it but I'd say pre-teens would be a fair estimate. Thus the print is relatively large and simply-written, and there are numérous cartoons scattered about to break up the text. Many of these feature the five characters used to present each of the sections: PC Bobby Truemo who tracks down program errors, Mortimer Puce the artist, and Ms. O.C. Termup, the reference librarian. This is a good idea, as kids love to have silly names and characters like this, but together with the 'You try' boxes, the 'Display box' showing the result after you type an example, and the 'Make a Note' boxes, the layout gets a bit cluttered at times. Nevertheless, the treatment is at a very basic level and the dimmest of computer illiterates should be able to gain from it. It might even be more suitable for the 'truck driver and his wife' that Alan Sugar (pause to tug forelock) aims his computers at - I'm getting worried at the number of 12-year-olds who seem to know more about machine code than I do. ACU #8507 |
