Where to start

[Edwin Ntsulumbana]

Hello to you all.
I am doing Computer Systems and have never programmed before. I am now
taking C for the very first time and have no idea where to start.
When I looked at the books ( and some online tutorials ), I find that
C is not an easy language to begin with but since it is compulsory for
me to study I don't have a choice. Can anyone offer some help or
advice. I'm desperate.

I personally need all the help I could get from anyone.

Please help me.

Edwin

 

[Pedro Graca]

I am doing Computer Systems and have never programmed before. I am now
taking C for the very first time and have no idea where to start.

Start at page 1.

When I looked at the books ( and some online tutorials ), I find that
C is not an easy language to begin with but since it is compulsory for
me to study I don't have a choice. Can anyone offer some help or
advice. I'm desperate.

Maybe you can jump to the 37th century, swallow a C pill, and come back
from the future with a complete understanding of all the C's from 18
centuries.

I personally need all the help I could get from anyone.

Type, compile and run *all* the code from classes.
Type, compile and run *all* the code from your books.


If you see a snippet of code, make a program [type, compile and run]
that uses that snippet.



When you can't understand why some program behaves the way it does, or
if some source doesn't compile and you can't find the error, or if
you're wondering what's the best way to do something (like "is it best
to use a for(), a while(), or some other thing here?") post your
questions *and code* here and/or ask your teacher.


Happy Coding

 

[CBFalconer]

I am doing Computer Systems and have never programmed before. I am
now taking C for the very first time and have no idea where to
start. When I looked at the books ( and some online tutorials ), I
find that C is not an easy language to begin with but since it is
compulsory for me to study I don't have a choice. Can anyone offer
some help or advice. I'm desperate.

I personally need all the help I could get from anyone.

Get and read K&R2. Do the exercises. Hang around here to find out
exactly what K&R2 is. While you are waiting download and read the
FAQ. Hang around here to find out exactly what the FAQ is.

After that you should ace any tests, assuming normal intelligence
and aptitude.

 

[Dan Pop]

I am doing Computer Systems and have never programmed before. I am now
taking C for the very first time and have no idea where to start.
When I looked at the books ( and some online tutorials ), I find that
C is not an easy language to begin with but since it is compulsory for
me to study I don't have a choice. Can anyone offer some help or
advice. I'm desperate.

Get a copy of K&R2 (complete reference in the FAQ) and start reading it.
This is how many of this newsgroup's regulars have started and most of
them actually enjoyed the experience.

Dan

 

[Joona I Palaste]

Get a copy of K&R2 (complete reference in the FAQ) and start reading it.
This is how many of this newsgroup's regulars have started and most of
them actually enjoyed the experience.

I, however, started by going to an elementary C course at my
University. I didn't have much of a background - two courses of Pascal
plus a hearty deal of experience as your average spotty-faced
Commodore 64 BASIC bedroom programmer.
I, of course, learned what the teacher taught very well, and passed
the course with full marks. It wasn't until *after* the course that I
came to comp.lang.c and found out that there is much more to C than
what I was taught.

 

[Eric Sosman]

Get a copy of K&R2 (complete reference in the FAQ) and start reading it.
This is how many of this newsgroup's regulars have started and most of
them actually enjoyed the experience.

K&R is an excellent book, one of the two best
programming languages books I've ever encountered.
However, it presupposes a general knowledge of
programming, which the O.P. says he lacks. I would
not recommend K&R as a first text in programming,
even though I'd heartily recommend it as a language
introduction for someone with prior programming
experience.

 

[xideum]

I do agree that you should read K&R, but do you even have a compiler?
At the very starting point, (assuming you use Windows) I'd say go to
www.bloodshed.net and download dev-c++ (it compiles C code as well as
C++). Then go out and get K&R, and hopefully someday stop using Windows.

 

[Jack Klein]

Get a copy of K&R2 (complete reference in the FAQ) and start reading it.
This is how many of this newsgroup's regulars have started and most of
them actually enjoyed the experience.

Dan

There are more than a few of us around who started with K&R1. And
quite a few of us who would like to see a K&R3, but that's probably
not in the cards.

 

[Dan Pop]

There are more than a few of us around who started with K&R1.

Myself included. But this is a pointless distinction, in the context of
the thread.

Dan

 

[Dan Pop]

K&R is an excellent book, one of the two best
programming languages books I've ever encountered.
However, it presupposes a general knowledge of
programming,

May I have some chapters and verses from the body of the book, actually
illustrating this assertion?

which the O.P. says he lacks. I would
not recommend K&R as a first text in programming,
even though I'd heartily recommend it as a language
introduction for someone with prior programming
experience.

I know several people who learned C from K&R without any previous
exposure to computer programming and were very happy with the book.
None of them looked like a genius, so it works.

I'd recommend starting with K&R, regardless of the previous experience
or lack of it and switching to another book *only* if the reader finds
the text too difficult to understand (after making a *honest* effort to
understand it).

Dan

 

[osmium]

In <[email protected]> Eric Sosman


May I have some chapters and verses from the body of the book, actually
illustrating this assertion?

I was going to avoid this discussion. But....

Only a person with the *INTENT* to mislead would purposely exclude the
preface of the book where the authors say

"This book is not an introductory programming manual ...."

The OP would be well advised to find a book intended for people who are
lacking in the innate ability to be programmers. Unfortunately I don't
know what book or books that might be since I too learned C from K&R. But
it was my <mumble> language. The C shelves in a book store are not as good
as the shelves in a public library since C has passed the stage where
authors can not expect much return from writing yet another book on C. Some
authors I would consider: Prata, King, Harbison & Steele, Pohl, Ammeraal,
Lafore. They are all good authors, but I don't even know that they in fact
ever wrote a tutorial or primer on C.

But what the OP really needs is a face to face tutor.

 

[Tim Rentsch]

I'd recommend starting with K&R, regardless of the previous experience
or lack of it and switching to another book *only* if the reader finds
the text too difficult to understand (after making a *honest* effort to
understand it).

I second this recommendation. Normally I wouldn't followup just
to second a recommendation but the quality of K&R as a tutorial
makes it seem worth an exception.

One thing I would add: K&R glosses over some of the difficulties in
C, often making people think they understand the language better than
they do. So even though K&R is a good place to start, it should be
supplemented by _something_; what the something should be depends a
lot on who is doing the reading.

 

[Dan Pop]

I was going to avoid this discussion. But....

Only a person with the *INTENT* to mislead would purposely exclude the
preface of the book where the authors say

"This book is not an introductory programming manual ...."

I deliberately excluded the preface because the contents of the book
does not support this assertion from the preface. Unless you can provide
the counterexamples I have already asked for, of course.

It may not have been Kernighan's intention to write an introductory
programming manual, but this is effectively what he did. Hence, there is
no point in *indiscriminatingly* taking that statement at face value.

The OP would be well advised to find a book intended for people who are
lacking in the innate ability to be programmers.

How have you figured out that the OP is missing such innate abilities?

Dan