.EXE Magazine
Encyclopedia
.EXE Magazine was a monthly computer software
magazine
published in the United Kingdom
in the 1980s and 1990s.
Unlike the majority of the hobbyist-centred computer magazines of this period, .EXE was aimed at professional (and studying) programmers, both those employed in large companies and also the increasing number of self-employed and freelance coders. The magazine's prominence coincided with the availability of cheap PC clones and the first popular use of Windows
, both factors which encouraged the spread of small programming shops at this time. Unusually for the UK market, the magazine was also sold mainly by postal subscription, rather than by purchase from newsstands.
The magazine's coverage was similar to that of Dr. Dobb's Journal
. Most was about software development: either narrow articles on particular techniques for particular environments, or else broader articles on generalised algorithms. Following its largely PC-based market, the platform-specific articles were largely for the DOS
or Windows
operating systems, sometimes for OS/2
. The magazine's own name was a reference to the
and C++
, the highly popular Turbo Pascal
and later Visual Basic
and the then-novel SQL
. Less common languages such as Modula-2
and Smalltalk
also made occasional appearances. This was one of the last computer magazines where such a broad coverage could still be attempted, before the market fragmented entirely into smaller niches.
Largely absent from the magazine were the usual computer magazine staples of product reviews, and particularly the regular computer hardware reviews. Products such as new language compiler
s or IDE
s were reviewed as being of interest to the core audience of programmers, but hardware would have to be of an especially innovative new type to find itself mentioned.
The magazine was edited by Robert Schifreen
. It also featured a satirical column by Verity Stob
.
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1980s and 1990s.
Unlike the majority of the hobbyist-centred computer magazines of this period, .EXE was aimed at professional (and studying) programmers, both those employed in large companies and also the increasing number of self-employed and freelance coders. The magazine's prominence coincided with the availability of cheap PC clones and the first popular use of Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, both factors which encouraged the spread of small programming shops at this time. Unusually for the UK market, the magazine was also sold mainly by postal subscription, rather than by purchase from newsstands.
The magazine's coverage was similar to that of Dr. Dobb's Journal
Dr. Dobb's Journal
Dr. Dobb's Journal was a monthly journal published in the United States by CMP Technology. It covered topics aimed at computer programmers. DDJ was the first regular periodical focused on microcomputer software, rather than hardware. It later became a monthly section within the periodical...
. Most was about software development: either narrow articles on particular techniques for particular environments, or else broader articles on generalised algorithms. Following its largely PC-based market, the platform-specific articles were largely for the DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
or Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating systems, sometimes for OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
. The magazine's own name was a reference to the
.EXE file extension of DOS' executable files. The programming languages covered were a broad selection, again reflecting their commercial use at the time. They included CC (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
and C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
, the highly popular Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...
and later Visual Basic
Visual Basic
Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
and the then-novel SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
. Less common languages such as Modula-2
Modula-2
Modula-2 is a computer programming language designed and developed between 1977 and 1980 by Niklaus Wirth at ETH Zurich as a revision of Pascal to serve as the sole programming language for the operating system and application software for the personal workstation Lilith...
and Smalltalk
Smalltalk
Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. Smalltalk was created as the language to underpin the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis." It was designed and created in part for educational use, more so for constructionist...
also made occasional appearances. This was one of the last computer magazines where such a broad coverage could still be attempted, before the market fragmented entirely into smaller niches.
Largely absent from the magazine were the usual computer magazine staples of product reviews, and particularly the regular computer hardware reviews. Products such as new language compiler
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
s or IDE
Integrated development environment
An integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
s were reviewed as being of interest to the core audience of programmers, but hardware would have to be of an especially innovative new type to find itself mentioned.
The magazine was edited by Robert Schifreen
Robert Schifreen
Robert Jonathan Schifreen was a UK-based computer hacker, magazine editor, and later became a computer security consultant. He was the first person charged with illegally accessing a computer system, but was acquitted because there was no such specific criminal offence at the time...
. It also featured a satirical column by Verity Stob
Verity Stob
Verity Stob is the pseudonym of a British satirical columnist. Stob is an anonymous software developer, the author of humorous and satirical articles about information technology, particularly software development. Since 1988, she has written her "Verity Stob" column for .EXE magazine, Dr. Dobb's...
.
Other contemporary magazines
- ByteByte (magazine)BYTE magazine was a microcomputer magazine, influential in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s because of its wide-ranging editorial coverage...
- Dr. Dobb's JournalDr. Dobb's JournalDr. Dobb's Journal was a monthly journal published in the United States by CMP Technology. It covered topics aimed at computer programmers. DDJ was the first regular periodical focused on microcomputer software, rather than hardware. It later became a monthly section within the periodical...
- PC MagazinePC Magazine (UK)There are several different versions of PC Magazine. The UK edition was taken over by VNU in 2000 and ceased publication in 2002, although they still maintain a website.The columnists moved to Personal Computer World....
- Personal Computer WorldPersonal Computer WorldPersonal Computer World was a long-running British Computer magazine.Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content , the magazine's title was not intended as a specific reference to this...
(PCW)