Here's a description from wikipedia: The book's title comes from the fact that the Atari 2600, initially branded the VCS (Video Computer System), did not have

Here's a description from wikipedia: The book's title comes from the fact that the Atari 2600, initially branded the VCS (Video Computer System), did not have a video frame buffer, and required the programmers to write each line of video to the television, one line at a time. As there were only a limited number of machine cycles in which to do this, the programmers were literally racing a high speed electron beam across the screen.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_the_Beam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_the_Beam I read about it somewhere else too, but it's late and I can't remember where. Will update tomorrow if it comes to me.