<p>If you search on Google (or Duck Duck Go) for &quot;choose your own adventure, programming book&quot; you will probably find what you are looking for as well as some modern interpretations.</p>
<p>A few minutes clicking turned up <a href="https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook-adaptations" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-03T00:33:23.260Z
I think you have misunderstood my question: I am after a CYOA-style book that *contains* code listings. I am not after a computer game that is a *conversion* from an original CYOA-book.
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-03T00:41:18.123Z
Do the search. You may find what you want.
Buffy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-03T00:48:00.387Z
I have indeed searched much, in vain, prior to asking this question
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-02T17:06:46.987Z
2021-11-02T17:06:46.987Z
Buffy
<p>There's genuinely not enough to go on here to find the book with online searches.</p>
<p>However, you can find a listing of every book on BASIC ever published at the Library of Congress, all organized into various subcategories.  Your book is almost certainly in there.</p>
<p><a href="https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchArg=BASIC%20(Computer%20program%20language)&amp;searchCode=SUBJ%2B&amp;searchType=1&amp;recCount=25" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchArg=BASIC%20(Computer%20program%20language)&amp;searchCode=SUBJ%2B&amp;searchType=1&amp;recCount=25</a></p>
<p>Good luck!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-04T10:58:00.247Z
Yeah I agree that there isn't enough here for searching. Even with the LOC link, that would only work *if* "BASIC" was in the title... but I don't think it was or this book. Probably in the description or similar - so would need to be fulltext search... My hope was that someone here would come across this and coincidentally also happen to trigger some (now ancient) memories.
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-04T16:39:27.743Z
@bguiz Those aren't titles, those are subject categories, so basic wouldn't need to be in the title. As long as your book was registered with the library of Congress, which, if it was published, it probably was, it will be in there.
Ben I.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-05T02:39:17.523Z
Exploring the LOC site a bit more - thanks for your tip on categories btw - I discovered subcategories. I manually went through all 111 titles under the "BASIC (Computer program language)--Juvenile literature" subcategory, to no avail. I think I might have to scan all 2221 titles under the full "BASIC (Computer program language)" category. Is there a way to search by category *and* exclude "BASIC" from the title?
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-05T02:45:58.597Z
My attempts thus far to do the above have been unsuccessful, as unable to "negate": https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchArg1=BASIC&argType1=all&searchCode1=KSUB&searchType=2&combine2=and&searchArg2=BASIC&argType2=all&searchCode2=KTIL&combine3=not&searchArg3=&argType3=all&searchCode3=GKEY&year=1521-2021&yearOption=range&fromYear=1970&toYear=1999&location=all&place=all&type=am&language=ENG&recCount=25
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-05T06:07:50.053Z
@bguiz I'm afraid I know little about the LOC search functionality, or even the LOC in general. It is just my understanding (which might not even be right!) that virtually all books printed by publishers outside of the "self-publish" circuit are all registered there, which makes it my best guess about how to locate a really obscure volume.
Ben I.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-05T06:13:19.217Z
hmm yeah - I got you, it's 99.9% gonna be in that list. this book was likely published in the 80s when self-publishing wasn't as prevalent as it is today. In lieu of being able to figure out the advanced search functions on the LOC site... I might just manually scan the 2K or so in titles.
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-05T14:44:56.090Z
@bguiz If you do find it, I hope you post your answer. I'm quite curious now!
Ben I.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T07:42:34.243Z
So far I have found this: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21995995-at-the-heart-of-the-mountain - it isn't the specific one I recall though, although it seems to be rather similar.
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T07:54:47.630Z
Also, I have found that LOC doesn't seem to consistently "tag" metadata on the books in its catalogue. For example, the category appears to be "Plot your own stories". But see how 2 different books from the same publisher (and series) differ in their metadata: https://lccn.loc.gov/2001555228 vs https://lccn.loc.gov/2011459346
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T14:13:42.507Z
Do you remember anything about the story?  It seems like you're on the right track, and might have even fingered the book itself in one of those listings.
Ben I.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T14:24:56.537Z
I have a vague/ hazy memory of the book in terms of the actual story/ plot. The only specific thing that comes to mind is that one of the code listings featured "encrypting/decrypting" strings by swapping odd and even ASCII characters. Also that the reader didn't have to even write any of the code, simply type out the full listing into QBASIC, and run it.
bguiz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-03T16:41:44.250Z
2021-11-03T16:41:44.250Z
Ben I.
<p>Way back in the '90s, I read a choose-your-own-adventure style book,
where most sections ended in a choice of 2 or 3 different pages to turn to
(as is typical).</p>
<p>However, this particular book was different from the others in this category,
as some of the sections ended with a code listing in BASIC,
and it required the reader to type out and execute the code listing in QBASIC,
and based on the execution output, the reader would know which page to turn to.</p>
<p>This was very long ago, so I do not remember very much about the book,
not even the actual story, but the one specific thing that I do remember,
is that one of the code listings involved &quot;encrypted messages&quot;,
which you had to &quot;decrypt&quot;, and that this was simply by swapping
odd and even ASCII character codes.</p>
<p>The closest thing I could find was <a href="https://gamebooks.org/Category/44" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a>,
except the book I am after is one with multiple BASIC listings embedded in the sections,
and not just a single one at the end.</p>
<p>This book happened to be my first brush to &quot;programming&quot;, and the CYOA-style was (retrospectively) what got me motivated to get past the initial hurdle/struggle. I'm hoping to crowd-source the identification not only for nostalgia, but also to mine it for potential education ideas.</p>

<resource-request><programming><textbook><code-example>
Help identifying a '90s CYOA-style book with BASIC code listings
# Help identifying a '90s CYOA-style book with BASIC code listings

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-02)

Way back in the '90s, I read a choose-your-own-adventure style book,
where most sections ended in a choice of 2 or 3 different pages to turn to
(as is typical).

However, this particular book was different from the others in this category,
as some of the sections ended with a code listing in BASIC,
and it required the reader to type out and execute the code listing in QBASIC,
and based on the execution output, the reader would know which page to turn to.

This was very long ago, so I do not remember very much about the book,
not even the actual story, but the one specific thing that I do remember,
is that one of the code listings involved "encrypted messages",
which you had to "decrypt", and that this was simply by swapping
odd and even ASCII character codes.

The closest thing I could find was [this](https://gamebooks.org/Category/44),
except the book I am after is one with multiple BASIC listings embedded in the sections,
and not just a single one at the end.

This book happened to be my first brush to "programming", and the CYOA-style was (retrospectively) what got me motivated to get past the initial hurdle/struggle. I'm hoping to crowd-source the identification not only for nostalgia, but also to mine it for potential education ideas.

**Tags:** resource-request, programming, textbook, code-example


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-11-03. Score: 1

There's genuinely not enough to go on here to find the book with online searches.

However, you can find a listing of every book on BASIC ever published at the Library of Congress, all organized into various subcategories. Your book is almost certainly in there.

<https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchArg=BASIC%20(Computer%20program%20language)&searchCode=SUBJ%2B&searchType=1&recCount=25>

Good luck!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yeah I agree that there isn't enough here for searching. Even with the LOC link, that would only work *if* "BASIC" was in the title... but I don't think it was or this book. Probably in the description or similar - so would need to be fulltext search... My hope was that someone here would come across this and coincidentally also happen to trigger some (now ancient) memories.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Those aren't titles, those are subject categories, so basic wouldn't need to be in the title. As long as your book was registered with the library of Congress, which, if it was published, it probably was, it will be in there.  
> **username_0**: Exploring the LOC site a bit more - thanks for your tip on categories btw - I discovered subcategories. I manually went through all 111 titles under the "BASIC (Computer program language)--Juvenile literature" subcategory, to no avail. I think I might have to scan all 2221 titles under the full "BASIC (Computer program language)" category. Is there a way to search by category *and* exclude "BASIC" from the title?  
> **username_0**: My attempts thus far to do the above have been unsuccessful, as unable to "negate": https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchArg1=BASIC&argType1=all&searchCode1=KSUB&searchType=2&combine2=and&searchArg2=BASIC&argType2=all&searchCode2=KTIL&combine3=not&searchArg3=&argType3=all&searchCode3=GKEY&year=1521-2021&yearOption=range&fromYear=1970&toYear=1999&location=all&place=all&type=am&language=ENG&recCount=25  
> **username_2**: @username_0 I'm afraid I know little about the LOC search functionality, or even the LOC in general. It is just my understanding (which might not even be right!) that virtually all books printed by publishers outside of the "self-publish" circuit are all registered there, which makes it my best guess about how to locate a really obscure volume.  
> **username_0**: hmm yeah - I got you, it's 99.9% gonna be in that list. this book was likely published in the 80s when self-publishing wasn't as prevalent as it is today. In lieu of being able to figure out the advanced search functions on the LOC site... I might just manually scan the 2K or so in titles.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 If you do find it, I hope you post your answer. I'm quite curious now!  
> **username_0**: So far I have found this: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21995995-at-the-heart-of-the-mountain - it isn't the specific one I recall though, although it seems to be rather similar.  
> **username_0**: Also, I have found that LOC doesn't seem to consistently "tag" metadata on the books in its catalogue. For example, the category appears to be "Plot your own stories". But see how 2 different books from the same publisher (and series) differ in their metadata: https://lccn.loc.gov/2001555228 vs https://lccn.loc.gov/2011459346  
> **username_2**: Do you remember anything about the story?  It seems like you're on the right track, and might have even fingered the book itself in one of those listings.  
> **username_0**: I have a vague/ hazy memory of the book in terms of the actual story/ plot. The only specific thing that comes to mind is that one of the code listings featured "encrypting/decrypting" strings by swapping odd and even ASCII characters. Also that the reader didn't have to even write any of the code, simply type out the full listing into QBASIC, and run it.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-11-02. Score: 0

If you search on Google (or Duck Duck Go) for "choose your own adventure, programming book" you will probably find what you are looking for as well as some modern interpretations.

A few minutes clicking turned up [this](https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook-adaptations).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think you have misunderstood my question: I am after a CYOA-style book that *contains* code listings. I am not after a computer game that is a *conversion* from an original CYOA-book.  
> **username_1**: Do the search. You may find what you want.  
> **username_0**: I have indeed searched much, in vain, prior to asking this question  

---

