Annotated Bibliography

Larry Cotton

This is a bibliographic list of all articles by Larry Cotton currently catalogued by the Commodore 8-Bit Magazine Index and readable on archive.org. There are currently 68 articles in the index; this list is incomplete.

Sound Off With Your Joystick: RUN, Volume 1, No. 8, August 1984, p. 90.
Software toy uses joystick control to allow the user to experiment with the synchronization and ring modulation features of the SID chip. Includes description of program structure.
BASIC for Beginners: Learning the Language: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 40, Volume 4, No. 10, October 1986, p. 81.
Introductory article about BASIC aimed at readers with no programming experience.
BASIC for Beginners: The PRINT Statement: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 41, Volume 4, No. 11, November 1986, p. 36.
Topics: SAVE, LOAD, and PRINTing string constants, variables, and control codes.
BASIC for Beginners: PRINT and INPUT: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 42, Volume 4, No. 12, December 1986, p. 60.
Topics: chaining PRINT statements with commas and semicolons, and the INPUT statement.
BASIC for Beginners: All About Loops: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 43, Volume 5, No. 1, January 1987, p. 102.
Working with FOR-NEXT loops in BASIC.
BASIC for Beginners: The IF-THEN Statement: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 44, Volume 5, No. 2, February 1987, p. 86.
Working with conditionals in BASIC.
BASIC for Beginners: More on IF-THEN: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 45, Volume 5, No. 3, March 1987, p. 92.
Exploring different ways to write a series of conditionals (similar to a case statement or switch block in other langauges).
BASIC for Beginners: GOTO and GOSUB: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 46, Volume 5, No. 4, April 1987, p. 78.
Controlling BASIC program flow with GOTO and GOSUB.
BASIC for Beginners: The Power of the ON Command: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 47, Volume 5, No. 5, May 1987, p. 80.
Using ON-GOTO and ON-GOSUB in BASIC.
BASIC for Beginners: The Advantages of GET: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 48, Volume 5, No. 6, June 1987, p. 74.
Topics: programming with GET; advantages of GET over INPUT.
Beginner BASIC: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 12, No. 10, October 1990, p. 20.
Tutorial designs a sprite with the "graph paper" method, places it on the screen, and plays a tone.
Beginner BASIC: Programming with a Musical Sprite: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 12, No. 11, November 1990, p. 18.
Topics: playing musical pitches, reading the joystick, and moving sprites.
Beginner BASIC: Boost Your Fun with Multiple Sprites: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 12, No. 12, December 1990, p. 14.
Topics: registers for all eight sprites, and using the NOT operator to toggle a boolean value.
Beginner BASIC: Multiple Sprites on the Move: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 1, January 1991, p. 24.
Sprite registers for position, x- and y-expansion, visibility, and colour.
Beginner BASIC: This Program Won't RUN: Overlooking the Obvious: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 2, February 1991, p. 20.
Simple troubleshooting and debugging techniques for BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Where to From Here? Some BASIC Ramblings: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 3, March 1991, p. 20.
Drawbacks and advantages of BASIC, and a call for reader suggestions for future topics.
Beginner BASIC: Your 64 as a Digital Dialer: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 4, April 1991, p. 22.
Topics: converting frequency (Hz) to SID frequency values, POKEing to SID registers, and multi-dimensional arrays.
Beginner BASIC: More Indexed Arrays for a Digital Dialer: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 5, May 1991, p. 20.
Illustrates indexed arrays with a simple phone directory storage program.
Beginner BASIC: BASIC Math: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 6, June 1991, p. 22.
Arithmetic operations in BASIC: standard arithmetic operators, square roots, and cube roots.
Beginner BASIC: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 7, July 1991, p. 22.
Trigonometric functions in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: An Easy Way to Solve Right Triangles: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 8, August 1991, p. 21.
A short BASIC program using trigonometry to solve unknown sides and angles in a right-angled triangle.
Beginner BASIC: Make Your Data Entry Crashproof: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 9, September 1991, p. 21.
Controlling user input with GET and validating keystrokes.
Beginner BASIC: Crashproof Data Entry Part 2: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 10, October 1991, p. 20.
Using GET to filter user input in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: My Favorite BASIC Keyword: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 11, November 1991, p. 23.
An exporation of BASIC's RND() function.
Beginner BASIC: Trim Your Tree with RND: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 13, No. 12, December 1991, p. 23.
Walks through the development of a simple Christmas tree demo with colourful, twinkling lights.
Beginner BASIC: Music Patterns: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 1, January 1992, p. 23.
A simple BASIC program demonstrates the use of RND() to create pseudo-random patterns of colour and musical pitch.
Beginner BASIC: Finishing Up RND: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, February/March 1992 – Volume 14, No. 2, p. 23.
Random sound and graphics in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: The Keyboard Buffer: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 3, April 1992, p. 23.
Using dynamic keyboard buffer stuffing to execute calculations in immediate mode and return to BASIC program execution.
Beginner BASIC: Check Your Bank's Math: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 4, May 1992, p. 22.
Walks through the development of a simple amortization calculator in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Alphabet Sprites: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 5, June 1992, p. 18.
A short BASIC program uses pixel patterns in character ROM to create sprites.
Beginner BASIC: Joystick Output: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 6, July 1992, p. 18.
A simple hardware project, using the joystick port for output by reversing the Data Direction Register (DDR).
Beginner BASIC: More Joystick Output: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 7, August 1992, p. 18.
Schematic, parts list, and instructions to build an interface controlled by output from the joystick port. The device is controlled via a short BASIC program.
Beginner BASIC: What Does This Key Do?: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 8, September 1992, p. 18.
Programming the function keys in BASIC in combination with the meta keys SHIFT, C=, and CTRL.
Beginner BASIC: More Keys, Please: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 9, October 1992, p. 18.
Topics: cursor and colour control codes in PETSCII, meta keys (SHIFT, C=, and CTRL), RUN/STOP, and the RESTORE key.
SID Simplified: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 10, November 1992, p. 3.
Detailed tutorial on programming the SID registers in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Adding Zip to BASIC: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 10, November 1992, p. 20.
Comparing the speed of a card shuffle routine in BASIC and machine language.
Beginner BASIC: Gathering Information: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 14, No. 11, December 1992, p. 18.
Working with the GET command in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: How About Some Input?: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 1, January 1993, p. 20.
Shortcomings of the INPUT command in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Put WAIT to Work: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 2, February 1993, p. 16.
Using WAIT to monitor keyboard input in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: In a Loop with FOR-NEXT: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 3, March 1993, p. 16.
Working with FOR-NEXT loops in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Through a Loop in Steps: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 4, April 1993, p. 16.
Using STEP with FOR-NEXT loops in BASIC. A short demo program, partially in machine language, demonstrates STEP used with hi-res plotting. As a bonus, the article takes a brief look at the German magazine 64'er.
Beginner BASIC: Nonrepeating Numbers Return: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 5, May 1993, p. 16.
Comparing and optimizing card-shuffling routines in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: User Port Alarm Clock: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 6, June 1993, p. 24.
A digital clock program in BASIC that takes its time from the 64's Time of Day clock.
Instant Art: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 6, June 1993, p. 32.
Linear cellular automaton graphics toy for the 64.
Beginner BASIC: User Port Clock (Part 2): Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 7, July 1993, p. 22.
Communicating with the 64's user port in BASIC.
11 Years in 8-Bit Heaven: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 7, July 1993, p. 3.
Retrospective on the author's experiences with the 64 from 1982 to 1993.
Beginner BASIC: Bucks in a Pot: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 8, August 1993, p. 22.
A simple problem illustrated with nested FOR-NEXT loops.
Beginner BASIC: Reading Data: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 9, September 1993, p. 22.
Working with READ and DATA in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Where's the Data? Part 2: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 10, October 1993, p. 16.
Writing arrays to disk in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Where's the Data? Part 3: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 11, November 1993, p. 16.
Reading data files from disk in BASIC.
The Sounds of SID: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 11, November 1993, p. 2.
SID registers and envelope control.
Beginner BASIC: Three Challenges: Compute!'s Gazette Special Section, Volume 15, No. 12, December 1993, p. 16.
Three programming challenges posed to readers.
Beginner BASIC: Redefined Characters: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 1, January 1994, p. 12.
BASIC program demonstrates a technique for creating user-defined characters.
Beginner BASIC: Custom Characters, Part 2: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 2, February 1994, p. 13.
Tutorial on laying out the pixel patterns for user-defined characters.
Setz!: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 3, March 1994, p. 62.
Matching game for the 64.
Beginner BASIC: Lessons: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 3, March 1994, p. 12.
Reflections on some lessons learned during the development of a game in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: When and Where to GOTO: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 4, April 1994, p. 9.
Thoughts on best practices around BASIC's GOTO command.
Beginner BASIC: The Challenges and CHR$: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 5, May 1994, p. 14.
Quirks of the PETSCII character set and their BASIC CHR$() codes.
Beginner BASIC: BASIC Games and the Challenge: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 6, June 1994, p. 11.
A look at two implementations of the game Sets submitted by readers Arthur Moore and James de Weese.
Beginner BASIC: Rounding: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 7, July 1994, p. 12.
Algorithms for rounding numbers in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Variables Won't; Constants Aren't: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 8, August 1994, p. 9.
Examples of numeric, string, and array variables treated as constants in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: More Variables and Constants: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 9, September 1994, p. 10.
Building a BASIC program to perform unit conversions.
Beginner BASIC: Conversions: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 10, October 1994, p. 15.
A continuation of Beginner BASIC: More Variables and Constants by Larry Cotton (Gazette Disk, Sept. 1994, p. 10). Continued development of a unit conversion program in BASIC.
Beginner BASIC: Real-Life Algebra: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 11, November 1994, p. 12.
Simple BASIC programs: calculating the area of a rectangle and compound interest.
Beginner BASIC: Tracking Holiday Costs: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 12, December 1994, p. 13.
Presents a simple BASIC program called Listmaker.
Beginner BASIC: The Evolution of a Program: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 13, January 1995, p. 14.
Traces the development process through writing a survey program in BASIC.
Steel Trap: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 14, February 1995, p. 28.
A strategy for using a word-processor file as a memo pad and "to do" list.
Beginner BASIC: Column Reprints: Compute!'s Gazette Disk Edition, Issue No. 14, February 1995, p. 12.
A listing of all monthly Beginner BASIC columns since January 1986, and an offer to purchase columns on disk via mail-order. Also mentions two unused columns intended more March and April of 1995.

Writing as Lawrence Cotton

An additional 8 articles were published under the name 'Lawrence Cotton'. I'm reasonably certain Larry and Lawrence are the same person.

Baker's Dozen: Part 1: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 19, Volume 3, No. 1, January 1985, p. 133.
Four short BASIC programs illustrating PETSCII graphics techniques: Quilt, Double Diamond, Tunnels, and Christmas Tree.
Baker's Dozen: Part 2: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 20, Volume 3, No. 2, February 1985, p. 120.
Five short BASIC programs illustrating sound and graphics programming techniques: Music Patterns, Bleep, Chimes, Tuba, and Good Vibes.
Baker's Dozen: Part 3: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 21, Volume 3, No. 3, March 1985, p. 111.
Four short BASIC programs illustrating PETSCII graphics and sound techniques: Mondrian, Rectangles, Magix, and Noodle Doodle.
Zounds! Part 1: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 25, Volume 3, No. 7, July 1985, p. 80.
Six short sound-effect programs written in BASIC.
Zounds! Part 2: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 26, Volume 3, No. 8, August 1985, p. 59.
Six short sound-effect programs written in BASIC.
Zounds! Part 3: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 27, Volume 3, No. 9, September 1985, p. 81.
Six short sound-effect programs written in BASIC.
Soundpix: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 30, Volume 3, No. 12, December 1985, p. 86.
Tool for visualizing SID chip waveforms and envelopes.
Super Synth: Compute!'s Gazette, Issue 35, Volume 4, No. 5, May 1986, p. 72.
Synthesizer program written in BASIC. The "patches" (voice register settings) are randomly-generated by the program.

Dr. Myles L. Skinner is the “curator” of the CBM 8-Bit Magazine Index.