newbie wants book tips on programming in C

[Henk van den Berg]

Pretty much what the subject says. I'm a programmer with ample
experience in FoxPro dating back from Foxbase+ up to Visual FoxPro 5,
lot of experience in Clipper 5.3 too and intermediate experience in
Visual Basic 5.

Now I want to look into programming in C and I'm looking for tips on
what books to get in order to get me started in C.

TIA
Henk

 

[Binary]

Since you already have a strong background in programming concepts, I would
recommend an intermediate book for you. Skip the Teach Yourself books
(that's if you have no experience), and look into the more professional
ones:

The C Programming Language (2nd Edition)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...9172393/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-0084851-2064813

and possibly something to reference, like:
C: The Complete Reference
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/002-0084851-2064813?v=glance&s=books

or, if you plan on going into C++ later, instead get
C/C++ Programmer's Reference
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0072127066/ref=pd_sr_ec_ir_b/002-0084851-2064813

Note that the two above books are not something that will teach you how to
program, just excellent references (though I hear that Shildt's adding .NET
stuff in his references) =(

 

[Richard Heathfield]

Binary wrote:

The C Programming Language (2nd Edition)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...9172393/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-0084851-2064813

From the sublime...

and possibly something to reference, like:
C: The Complete Reference

....to the ridiculous.

or, if you plan on going into C++ later, instead get
C/C++ Programmer's Reference

Just as ridiculous.

Note that the two above books are not something that will teach you how to
program,

Correct. Anything by Schildt is much more likely to teach you how /not/ to
program.

just excellent references

If you know C /and/ you've read Schildt's books, it's hard to see how you
can claim they are excellent references.

<snip>

 

[Richard Heathfield]

Pretty much what the subject says. I'm a programmer with ample
experience in FoxPro dating back from Foxbase+ up to Visual FoxPro 5,
lot of experience in Clipper 5.3 too and intermediate experience in
Visual Basic 5.

Now I want to look into programming in C and I'm looking for tips on
what books to get in order to get me started in C.

http://users.powernet.co.uk/eton/clc/cbooks.html

First three on the list are all beginner guides. Take your pick. Two of the
three if you can manage it.

My personal recommendation would be "The C Programming Language", 2nd
edition, since it will remain useful through your entire programming
career.

 

[Horst von Brand]

[...]

Note that the two above books are not something that will teach you how to
program, just excellent references (though I hear that Shildt's adding .NET
stuff in his references) =(

I remember somebody commented that the ANSI C standard costed around
US$180.-, while Schildt's "Annotated ANSI C standard" was someting
like US$60.-, and that the difference quite accurately shows the added
value... a cursory look at several of his books shows he is completely
clueless as to what a quality (well written, portable, standard
conforming (within reason), robust) program is.

 

[Greg P.]

value... a cursory look at several of his books shows he is completely
clueless as to what a quality (well written, portable, standard
conforming (within reason), robust) program is.

That's why you don't buy his "so-called" standard books (or even his
learning ones). His pocket-reference is a different matter. Until I find a
_small_ C/C++ reference book on ANSI/ISO (though not clearly detailed
descriptions), I'll stick to his:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0072127066/ref=pd_sr_ec_ir_b/002-0084851-2064813

 

[Randy Howard]

That's why you don't buy his "so-called" standard books (or even his
learning ones).

Because Schildt's writing if filled with incorrect BS with lots of
persiflage for filler.

His pocket-reference is a different matter.

Everything he's ever written is riddled with errors. There are
even websites devoted solely to exposing the errors in his books.

 

[Morris Dovey]

I remember somebody commented that the ANSI C standard costed around
US$180.

Horst...

The standard document can be purchased and downloaded as a PDF
file from the ansi.org web site for US$18. If you're interested,
just follow the link below.

 

[entropy123]

I'm very much a newbie myself and in addition to K&R I would recommend
Deitel and Deitel. They do an excellent job with sample code and even
personally answer the stupid questions newbies send them...

entropy

 

[apm]

My personal recommendation would be "The C Programming Language", 2nd
edition, since it will remain useful through your entire programming
career.

Hear, hear. And remember what the authors say in the preface: C is a
small language and is not served well by a large book. As you learn C
you will find the language itself relatively easy, what is hard is
learning all the standard libraries so you don't re-invent the wheel.
That takes experience. Good luck!

One thing I have to say about K&R, good though it is, is that it does
not cover the std libraries, it just covers the language and the
minimum from the std libraries in order to teach the language. You
will probably want a library reference as well. I use a POSIX manual
for that, but that's just me

-apm

 

[Greg P.]

will probably want a library reference as well. I use a POSIX manual
for that, but that's just me

What is this POSIX manual you speak of? I have been looking for a good one.

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

You sound similar to me. I'm a programmer with experience in Visual
Basic 6, PHP and Perl.



I am in the process of learning C and I have a bookcase full of books.
K&R2 is by *FAR* the best book I own. It's also one of the smallest,
which leads me to believe others are "padded" with crap.



-- Craig

_C Programming: A Modern Approach_ by K.N. King. ISBN 0-393-96945-2
Avoid _C Unleashed_; it's crap.

 

[Dan Pop]

Hear, hear. And remember what the authors say in the preface: C is a
small language and is not served well by a large book. As you learn C
you will find the language itself relatively easy, what is hard is
learning all the standard libraries so you don't re-invent the wheel.
That takes experience. Good luck!

The C89 standard library is relatively small and easy to learn.
fprintf, fscanf and strftime are the only functions with a complex
specification. Since fprintf and fscanf are often used, you get used to
them fairly quickly.

One thing I have to say about K&R, good though it is, is that it does
not cover the std libraries, it just covers the language and the
minimum from the std libraries in order to teach the language. You
will probably want a library reference as well.

An excellent standard library reference is right there, in Appendix B.

I use a POSIX manual for that, but that's just me

That's not a good idea for portable programming: POSIX extends the
specification of certain standard C library functions.

Dan

 

[Richard Bos]

Avoid _C Unleashed_; it's crap.

May I ask what reason you have for that opinion? FWIW, I disagree.

Richard

 

[Dan Pop]

_C Programming: A Modern Approach_ by K.N. King. ISBN 0-393-96945-2

A good choice for those who prefer verbose tutorials. However,
someone who is already an experienced programmer (in other languages)
might appreciate the terseness of K&R2 (I certainly did).

Avoid _C Unleashed_; it's crap.

I haven't read it, so I can't say whether it's crap or not (but there
is plenty of c.l.c-posted testimony that it's not). What I do know for
sure is that it is NOT a C tutorial and, therefore, it's useless for the
OP's purposes (until he gets properly started in C).

Dan

 

[Naum]

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/cpr/
O'Reilly C Pocket Reference (2002)

 

[Emmanuel Delahaye]

Avoid _C Unleashed_; it's crap.

Can you elaborate, or are you just trolling?