The Peter Norton Programmer
PSS ID Number: Q11962
Article last modified on 10-13-1986
PSS database name: PRESS






THE PETER NORTON PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE TO THE IBM PC
by Peter Norton
Price: $19.95  Pages: 448
ISBN: 0-914845-46-2
Pub. Date: June 28, 1985

Microsoft Press Publishes the Ultimate Reference Guide to the Entire Family of
IBM Personal Computers

   As the creator of the best-selling Norton Utilities and featured columnist
for the PC Week and PC magazines, Peter Norton is recognized as the foremost
authority on IBM personal computer technology.  In addition, Norton is highly
regarded for his ability to explain the complexities of technological
developments.  As USA Today recently said, "What Norton does best is explain
and interpret what all the technical talk means."  On June 28, 1985, Microsoft
Press will publish this noted expert's definitive reference volume for the
entire IBM PC family, THE PETER NORTON PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE TO THE IBM PC.
Microsoft Press will support the book with an extensive advertising and
promotional campaign.  In addition, Macmillan's Small Computer Book Club has
chosen THE PETER NORTON PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE TO THE IBM PC as its Main Selection
for the month of October.
   THE PETER NORTON PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE TO THE IBM PC is designed to provide
intermediate and advanced users with the information they need to develop
programs that can be ported from one member of the IBM PC family to another.
A unique and valuable reference, the book includes a detailed explanation of
the inner workings of the PC, XT, AT, PCjr, and Portable PC.
   The author begins with an in-depth overview of the specific hardware and
software elements - the microprocessors, support chips, buses, and ROM
software - that make up the IBM PC family, and notes how each member differs
from its relatives.  Norton then examines the basics of the machines' video,
disk, and keyboard features, as well as the PC's sound-generation ability.
   Next, Norton explains how developers can enhance any program's performance
by directly plugging it into the ROM-BIOS.  The book includes a ROM-BIOS
service summary, which provides users with a quick reference to some of the
most important programming information.  THE PETER NORTON PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE
TO THE IBM PC also covers the program support services of DOS - the DOS
interrupts and DOS functions - and provides a DOS service summary.
   The last section of the book is devoted to bringing all of this information
together to build successful programs.  The author focuses on how programmers
can free themselves of the constraints of higher-level programming languages
by linking programs written in high-level languages to assembly-language
routines that access DOS and the ROM-BIOS.  Throughout the book, Peter Norton
discusses his philosophy of programming.  He examines the underlying ideas of
the IBM's design and offers his insight into the skills necessary for creating
elegant, fluid programs for this successful family of computers.
   Peter Norton was raised in Seattle, Washington, and educated at Reed
College in Portland, Oregon.  Before discovering microcomputers, he spent a
dozen years working on mainframes and minicomputers for companies including
Boeing and the Jet Propulsion Laboratories.  After the debut of the IBM PC,
Peter was among the first to buy one.  In addition to being the author of the
classic, Inside the IBM PC.  Peter and his wife, Eileen, divide their time
between homes in Los Angeles, California, and Seattle Washington.
   Microsoft Corporation, based in Bellevue, Washington, develops and sells a
wide range of operating systems, languages, application programs, and hardware
products, as well as books, for the microcomputer marketplace.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986.