Robert Lafore

Robert W. Lafore (born March 11, 1938) is a computer programmer, systems analyst and entrepreneur. He is credited with coining the term "interactive fiction" and was an early software developer in the field.[1][2]

Career

Lafore worked as a systems analyst for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.At one time he was an editor for the Waite Group publishers.[3]. In the early days of microcomputing, he wrote programs in BASIC for the TRS-80[4] and founded his own software company.

Lafore wrote a number of text adventure games for Adventure International; Nick Montfort credits him with coining the term "interactive fiction" for these works.[1]

Lafore has authored a number of books on the subject of computer programming, including Soul of CP/M.[5][3][6] and Assembly Language Primer for the IBM PC and XT.[7][8] Later books included C++ Interactive Course, Object-Oriented Programming in C++,[9][10] Turbo C Programming for the IBM,[11] and C Programming Using Turbo C++.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Montfort, Nick (2005). Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction. MIT Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-262-63318-5.
  2. ↑ Dale Peterson (July 1983). Genesis II, Creation and Recreation with Computers. Reston Pub. Co. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-8359-2434-4.
  3. 1 2 Dr. Dobb's Journal for Users of Small Computer Systems. People's Computer Company. 1984.
  4. ↑ Michael J. Tresca (16 November 2010). The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games. McFarland. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-7864-6009-0.
  5. ↑ Waite, Mitchell; Lafore, Robert (1983). Soul of CP/M: How to Use the Hidden Power of Your CP/M System (PDF). Howard W. Sams & Co. ISBN 0-672-22030-X.
  6. ↑ InCider. Vol. 2. W. Green. 1984. p. 139.
  7. ↑ Ziff Davis, Inc. (11 March 1986). "PC Mag". PC Magazine: The Independent Guide to IBM-Standard Personal Computing. Ziff Davis, Inc.: 23–. ISSN 0888-8507.
  8. ↑ Byte. McGraw-Hill. 1986. p. 297.
  9. ↑ Tim Wegner; Bert Tyler; Mark Peterson; Pieter Branderhorst (1 October 1992). Fractals for Windows. Waite Group Press. p. 360. ISBN 978-1-878739-25-4.
  10. ↑ The New York Times Book Review. New York Times Company. June 1995. p. 35.
  11. ↑ Computer Book Review. CBR Publications. 1988. pp. 6–15.
  12. ↑ WorldCat report for Robert Lafore