Learning C Programming Language

[Seebs]

Ok but over 800 pages for a book on C? Isn't that a little excessive?

I don't think so; it's got a lot of things like exercises and in-depth
explorations. It's easy to skip stuff you don't need; it's hard to learn
from something that doesn't have an explanation you can understand.

-s

 

[lawrence.jones]

I am a newbie with no programming experience. How do i start learning
C understanding concepts and fundamentals.

If you can find a copy, Tom Plum's "Learning to Program in C" is
excellent for that, although it's a bit dated now.

 

[Nick Keighley]

Le 01/11/11 22:52, John Gordon a écrit :



Because I did a mistake in the "reply to" probably. In any case it is
completely impossible to imply that in the book of K&R you will find

so who's the moron who doesn't reply to what he thinks he's replying
to?

 

[Nick Keighley]

K&R? Are you serious{?] [...]

Mate, go soak yer head in the billybong...K&R sucks for learning
how to program in "C" for a rank novice,

you may have a point. I've knon people to struggle (lack of answers to
the excercises seems to throw them). C was my nth language so I'm
probably not a very good sample novice user.

OTH I learned my first language with little more help. I think it
depends on the novice. I like K&R's overview then details approach.

and I should know, because
I tried to use it several decades ago for that purpose, and made
no headway until I threw it away and got another book, which
wasn't great, but just about anything is better than K&R...

What I'm detecting here is a concept I call "books written
by 'technical experts' for 'technical experts' for the sole
purpose of perpetuating 'technical expertise'".

some people prefer a book that gets to the point and doesn't have
large margins, pretty icons and a tendency to induce curvature of the
spine in anyone carrying the thing about.

But I agree on the basic principle of "horses for courses"

If the OP goes through K&R ***and does all the excercises*** (that is
actually produces runnign programs that produce the right results).
Then I submit he'll be pretty well on his way to being a C programmer.

There are better rsources for the standard library. But these *can* be
found online.

 I use the
sarcastic quote marks around 'technical expertise' because
the real goal is apparently to create as much confusion
as possible so when management comes around and asks why
nothing has happened the 'technical experts' can spout a
bunch of carefully scripted gooble-de-gook as an excuse...

your definition of "technical expert" is so far from mine... I don't
agree K&R is for bull-shitters but is for actual programmers who want
a no-waffle tutorial and basic reference in one compact source.

The real problem is that "example is not explanation"; the
book explains nothing but merely presents random snippets of
code and let's the reader puzzle it out for themself...

I consider the examples well chosen. Can you give examples of poor
ones. (I might not be able to respond 'til I have access to k&R).

<snip>

 

[Hans Vlems]

The book "C Programming: A Modern Approach" by K. N. King has been very
well received. Has anyone read it?

August

Yes, I use it on a daily basis. It is well written, meaning that the
text is
precise and accurate.
The only paragraph I find less clear is about linked lists (17.5).
Then again the
author clearly states that the topic is beyond the scope of the book
and better
treated elsewhere. Recommended.
Hans

 

[Hans Vlems]

Yes.  Full disclosure:  I also did a technical review pass on the second
edition.

I love it.  I think it is a better way to learn C than K&R, and I do not
say that particularly lightly.

Yes, that sums it up quite well. I learned C with the help of two
books: K&R
(the original edition) and DEC's DEC-C programming guide (V1.5).
King's book would have made the learning curve a lot less steep IMHO.
Hans

 

[Hans Vlems]

Le 31/10/11 11:37, Nick Keighley a écrit :
I am a newbie with no programming experience. How do i start learning
C understanding concepts and fundamentals.
Please guide
This book is excellent:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language
Unfortunately many on-line tutorials are very poor.
Maybe but that tutorial is really bad.
K&R? Are you serious{?] [...]

Mate, go soak yer head in the billybong...K&R sucks for learning
how to program in "C" for a rank novice,

you may have a point. I've knon people to struggle (lack of answers to
the excercises seems to throw them). C was my nth language so I'm
probably not a very good sample novice user.

OTH I learned my first language with little more help. I think it
depends on the novice. I like K&R's overview then details approach.

and I should know, because
I tried to use it several decades ago for that purpose, and made
no headway until I threw it away and got another book, which
wasn't great, but just about anything is better than K&R...

What I'm detecting here is a concept I call "books written
by 'technical experts' for 'technical experts' for the sole
purpose of perpetuating 'technical expertise'".

some people prefer a book that gets to the point and doesn't have
large margins, pretty icons and a tendency to induce curvature of the
spine in anyone carrying the thing about.

But I agree on the basic principle of "horses for courses"

If the OP goes through K&R ***and does all the excercises*** (that is
actually produces runnign programs that produce the right results).
Then I submit he'll be pretty well on his way to being a C programmer.

There are better rsources for the standard library. But these *can* be
found online.

 I use the
sarcastic quote marks around 'technical expertise' because
the real goal is apparently to create as much confusion
as possible so when management comes around and asks why
nothing has happened the 'technical experts' can spout a
bunch of carefully scripted gooble-de-gook as an excuse...

your definition of "technical expert" is so far from mine... I don't
agree K&R is for bull-shitters but is for actual programmers who want
a no-waffle tutorial and basic reference in one compact source.

The real problem is that "example is not explanation"; the
book explains nothing but merely presents random snippets of
code and let's the reader puzzle it out for themself...

I consider the examples well chosen. Can you give examples of poor
ones. (I might not be able to respond 'til I have access to k&R).

<snip>- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The publisher probably just cut off half the title of that book. Very
likely it was titled:
"The C programming language as we've used it while developing the unix
operating system".
Obviously not a catchy title..
I don't think K&R is a good choice for a new programmer, or even that
C is good choice to
learn as a first programming language. Designing algorithms ought to
be mastered first,
and you are correct if that echoes the ideas of Dijkstra, Hoare et.
al.

Hans