just got myself a copy of K&R...

[John Kordyback]

That would be a surprise to the people I know who learned C as their
first programming language, from K&R.

I agree with you. I happen to be one of those people who love K&R. Like
any book, it's not for everyone, but I can't think of any other like it
except Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style". K&R still sits on my
bookshelf after 15 or so years next to Knuth and I still use it frequently.

Some people are better off starting with the "Absolute Beginner's Guide
to C" by Greg M. Perry. It's a little old as well but covers a lot of
basics in a friendlier fashion.

/qb

 

[Dan Pop]

It looks like you are right.

I cannot find any counter-examples, and while K&R may have somehow intended
that "The C Programming Language" be a standalone tutorial, it cannot be
said that it /is/ a standalone tutorial.

A number of people reported in this very newsgroup that their first
programming language was C and that they learned it from K&R. Certain
parts were harder to understand, but not impossible.

Dan

 

[James Hu]

I have looked throught the curriculae of over a dozen Universities, Colleges,
and Community/Junior colleges that use K&R as their primary C programming
text, and every one of them teaches either assembly language or a high-level
language first.

Perhaps you would find the following link helpful to using K&R2 as a
tutorial to C as a first programming language:

http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/cclass/krnotes/top.html

-- James