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Rating: 
Summary: The book I've been waiting for.
Review: M is a delightful applications language. Recently I've been struggling with C++ STL, trying to use the "map" container to get perhaps a tenth of the functionality you get from an ordinary M variable, and, believe me, I miss M. This is the M book we've all been waiting for, and it delivers exactly what it promises. It is, as the blurb says, "the only source M programmers at all levels need." The style and presentation reminds me a little of Stoustrup's book on C++: the organization and style are tutorial, but not elementary. It is up-to-date with the current standard. What I particularly admire about it, and what is all too rare in computer books (especially those written by professors of computer science) is that it displays an intelligent awareness of real-world commercial implementations of M. Too many books either describe a pure-standards abstraction on the one hand, or a specific vendor extension on the other. Walters identifies popular M implementations by name and calls attention to variations where appropriate. Like M itself, Walters' book is directed at real programmers trying to solve real problems in the real world. There are a few places where one can see that the book is an (extensive) rewrite of his older book, rather than a completely new work. I thought it was harder to locate the "argumentless DO" than it should have been, and I felt there should have been a coherent discussion in one place explaining the (historically weird) relations between the various forms of DO, and when $T is and isn't stacked. Similarly, it is disconcerting to see on page 199 that the "NEW" command is described as a "recent extension... not yet formally included in the standard." These are cosmetic problems that do not seriously mar the book I've been waiting for.
Rating:
Summary: The book I've been waiting for.
Review: M is a delightful applications language. Recently I've been struggling with C++ STL, trying to use the "map" container to get perhaps a tenth of the functionality you get from an ordinary M variable, and, believe me, I miss M. This is the M book we've all been waiting for, and it delivers exactly what it promises. It is, as the blurb says, "the only source M programmers at all levels need." The style and presentation reminds me a little of Stoustrup's book on C++: the organization and style are tutorial, but not elementary. It is up-to-date with the current standard. What I particularly admire about it, and what is all too rare in computer books (especially those written by professors of computer science) is that it displays an intelligent awareness of real-world commercial implementations of M. Too many books either describe a pure-standards abstraction on the one hand, or a specific vendor extension on the other. Walters identifies popular M implementations by name and calls attention to variations where appropriate. Like M itself, Walters' book is directed at real programmers trying to solve real problems in the real world. There are a few places where one can see that the book is an (extensive) rewrite of his older book, rather than a completely new work. I thought it was harder to locate the "argumentless DO" than it should have been, and I felt there should have been a coherent discussion in one place explaining the (historically weird) relations between the various forms of DO, and when $T is and isn't stacked. Similarly, it is disconcerting to see on page 199 that the "NEW" command is described as a "recent extension... not yet formally included in the standard." These are cosmetic problems that do not seriously mar the book I've been waiting for.
Rating:
Summary: The book I've been waiting for.
Review: M is a delightful applications language. Recently I've been struggling with C++ STL, trying to use the "map" container to get perhaps a tenth of the functionality you get from an ordinary M variable, and, believe me, I miss M. This is the M book we've all been waiting for, and it delivers exactly what it promises. It is, as the blurb says, "the only source M programmers at all levels need." The style and presentation reminds me a little of Stoustrup's book on C++: the organization and style are tutorial, but not elementary. It is up-to-date with the current standard. What I particularly admire about it, and what is all too rare in computer books (especially those written by professors of computer science) is that it displays an intelligent awareness of real-world commercial implementations of M. Too many books either describe a pure-standards abstraction on the one hand, or a specific vendor extension on the other. Walters identifies popular M implementations by name and calls attention to variations where appropriate. Like M itself, Walters' book is directed at real programmers trying to solve real problems in the real world. There are a few places where one can see that the book is an (extensive) rewrite of his older book, rather than a completely new work. I thought it was harder to locate the "argumentless DO" than it should have been, and I felt there should have been a coherent discussion in one place explaining the (historically weird) relations between the various forms of DO, and when $T is and isn't stacked. Similarly, it is disconcerting to see on page 199 that the "NEW" command is described as a "recent extension... not yet formally included in the standard." These are cosmetic problems that do not seriously mar the book I've been waiting for.
Rating: 
Summary: So many typos and bad text formating
Review: This book does a good job of explaining the reasoning behind the language's (sometimes strange) behavior--most of the time, anyway. The book suffers from numerous typos in the code fragments. Also, it would be nice to have a nice reference section where each command's syntax is explaned succinctly; this is important, especially because M is not a free-form language, i.e., the white spaces are significant.
Rating:
Summary: So many typos and bad text formating
Review: This book provides the needed instruction for a beginner with no knowledge to learn the fundamentals of M programming. Combine the book with a free M program downloaded from the internet and you are on your way to becomming a beginning programmer.
Rating: 
Summary: M programming - A comprehensive Guide
Review: This book provides the needed instruction for a beginner with no knowledge to learn the fundamentals of M programming. Combine the book with a free M program downloaded from the internet and you are on your way to becomming a beginning programmer.
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