# Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference Guide by Commodore

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference Guide by Commodore and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People credit this manual with teaching them hardware and programming basics, and some say it changed their lives. No critics appeared in the discussions.

## Why people recommend it

- Taught hardware and programming in depth (3 comments): "That's the greatest manual I've ever touched. It taught me a huge chunk of what I know about hardware" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49396551)) "The thing that truly changed my life was the Commodore Reference Guide, with schematic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48949048)) "I spent pretty much all of the 1988-9 school year (I was 10) inhaling it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49395341))
- Life-changing for its readers (2 comments): "The thing that truly changed my life was the Commodore Reference Guide, with schematic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48949048)) "it was literally life-changing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539451))
- Read heavily and worn out (2 comments): "I spent pretty much all of the 1988-9 school year (I was 10) inhaling it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49395341)) "wearing out the spiral binding of the Programmer's Reference Guide" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541671))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crafting-interpreters.md): 60 recommend
- [Clean Code by Robert C. Martin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/clean-code.md): 31 recommend
- [The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pragmatic-programmer.md): 28 recommend
- [How to Design Programs by Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-design-programs.md): 18 recommend
- [Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mastering-emacs.md): 17 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0672220563?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780672220562) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference Guide by Commodore", https://hackerapproved.com/p/commodore-64-programmer-s-reference-guide/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).