Norton Guides
Encyclopedia
Norton Guides were a product family sold by Peter Norton
Computing. The guides were written in 1985 by Warren Woodford for the x86 Assembly Language
, C
, BASIC
, and Forth languages and made available to users via a TSR
program that integrated with programming language editors on IBM PC type computers. This appears to be the first example of a commercial product where programming reference information was integrated into the software development environment.
The concept of providing "information at your fingertips", as he called it, via a TSR
program was a signature technology developed by Woodford in 1980 and used in other programs he created in that era including MathStar, WordFinder/SynonymFinder and a TEMPEST
WWMCCS workstation developed for Systematics General Corporation. Warren's Guides, aka the Norton Guides, were the last application of this type written by Woodford.
Peter Norton
Peter Norton is an American programmer, software publisher, author, and philanthropist. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name. Norton sold his PC-Software business to Symantec Corporation in 1990....
Computing. The guides were written in 1985 by Warren Woodford for the x86 Assembly Language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
, C
C (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....
, BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
, and Forth languages and made available to users via a TSR
Terminate and Stay Resident
Terminate and Stay Resident is a computer system call in DOS computer operating systems that returns control to the system as if the program has quit, but keeps the program in memory...
program that integrated with programming language editors on IBM PC type computers. This appears to be the first example of a commercial product where programming reference information was integrated into the software development environment.
The concept of providing "information at your fingertips", as he called it, via a TSR
Terminate and Stay Resident
Terminate and Stay Resident is a computer system call in DOS computer operating systems that returns control to the system as if the program has quit, but keeps the program in memory...
program was a signature technology developed by Woodford in 1980 and used in other programs he created in that era including MathStar, WordFinder/SynonymFinder and a TEMPEST
TEMPEST
TEMPEST is a codename referring to investigations and studies of compromising emission . Compromising emanations are defined as unintentional intelligence-bearing signals which, if intercepted and analyzed, may disclose the information transmitted, received, handled, or otherwise processed by any...
WWMCCS workstation developed for Systematics General Corporation. Warren's Guides, aka the Norton Guides, were the last application of this type written by Woodford.