[gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[Gavin Henry]

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Hi all,

During my degree, BEng (Hons) Electronics and Communications Engineering, we
did C programming every year, but I never kept it up, as I had no interest
and didn't see the point. But now I really want to get back into it as I see
a point with GNU/Linux. I want to get my old skills back and write something
or help on some projects etc.

I need some good books. I used to have one called "A Book On C", but sold it,
and I have been reading various tutorials on the web and the many devoted
websites.

Anyone have any recommendations?

One more question, should I go for C or C++? Which will benefit me more with
GNU/Linux?

Thanks for your time,

- -- 
Regards

http://www.magicfx.co.uk
http://www.suretecsystems.com
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Re: [gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[Stuart Herbert]

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On Sunday 28 December 2003 12:30 am, Gavin Henry wrote:
> I need some good books. I used to have one called "A Book On C", but sold
> it, and I have been reading various tutorials on the web and the many
> devoted websites.
>
> Anyone have any recommendations?

Kernighan & Ritchie - Ansi C (2nd Ed) - it's the only C programming book a C 
programmer needs.

> One more question, should I go for C or C++? Which will benefit me more
> with GNU/Linux?

Depends what you want to do.  KDE (and a few other toolkits) require C++, 
Gnome's GTK (and the majority of libraries) are written in C.

Best regards,
Stu
-- 
Stuart Herbert                                              stuart@gentoo.org
Gentoo Developer                                       http://www.gentoo.org/
Beta packages for download            http://dev.gentoo.org/~stuart/packages/
Come and meet me in March 2004                 http://www.phparch.com/cruise/

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Re: [gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[Adam Mercer]

> > I need some good books. I used to have one called "A Book On C", but sold
> > it, and I have been reading various tutorials on the web and the many
> > devoted websites.
> >
> > Anyone have any recommendations?
> 
> Kernighan & Ritchie - Ansi C (2nd Ed) - it's the only C programming book a C 
> programmer needs.

I'll second that! Also check out "A Complete C Reference" by Herbert
Schildt - I find that very useful.

Cheers

Adam

-- 
It is a stark fact of human existence that relationships change. Nothing
is ever completely stable, not even from hour to hour. There are always
subtle variances, alterations and adjustments that must be taken into
account. No two moments are ever exactly alike in any respect.
- Serena Butler, Observations

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Re: [gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[stephen white]

On 29/12/2003, at 2:43 AM, Adam Mercer wrote:
> I'll second that! Also check out "A Complete C Reference" by Herbert
> Schildt - I find that very useful.

Noooo... Herbert Schildt is well known as a "must avoid" author on the 
comp.lang.c group.

 From the FAQ at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/C-faq/learn/ :

16: Why do many experts not think very highly of Herbert Schildt's
books?

      A good answer to this question could fill a book by itself. While
      no book is perfect, Schildt's books, in the opinion of many
      gurus, seem to positively aim to mislead learners and encourage
      bad habits. Schildt's beautifully clear writing style only makes
      things worse by causing many "satisfied" learners to recommend his
      books to other learners.

      Do take a look at the following scathing articles before deciding
      to buy a Schildt text.
       http://www.lysator.liu.se/c/schildt.html
       http://herd.plethora.net/~seebs/c/c_tcr.html

      The above reviews are admittedly based on two of Schildt's older
      books. However, the language they describe has not changed in the
      intervening period, and several books written at around the same
      time remain highly regarded.

      The following humorous post also illustrates the general feeling
      towards Schildt and his books.
       http://www.qnx.com/~glen/deadbeef/2764.html

      There is exactly one and ONLY one C book bearing Schildt's name on
      its cover that is at all recommended by many C experts - see Q 25.

--
   steve@cs.adelaide.edu.au

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Re: [gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[Adam Mercer]

On Mon, Dec 29, 2003 at 05:26:53 +1030, stephen white wrote:
> Noooo... Herbert Schildt is well known as a "must avoid" author on the 
> comp.lang.c group.
> 
> From the FAQ at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/C-faq/learn/ :

<snip>

>      Do take a look at the following scathing articles before deciding
>      to buy a Schildt text.
>       http://www.lysator.liu.se/c/schildt.html
>       http://herd.plethora.net/~seebs/c/c_tcr.html

Very interesting, thanks for pointing that out. I guess won't rely on it
as much now.

Cheers

Adam

-- 
You live and learn. At any rate, you live. You also panic.
- Mostly Harmless

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Re: [gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[Christian Gut]

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On Sun, 2003-12-28 at 02:38, Stuart Herbert wrote:
> Kernighan & Ritchie - Ansi C (2nd Ed) - it's the only C programming book a C 
> programmer needs.

I am actually reading it and is great so far. Ok, im just at Chap 2 but
the tutorial introduction is great.

-- 
Christian Gut <cycloon@is-root.org>

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Re: [gentoo-dev] OT: A good book on C programming

[Mike Frysinger]

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On Saturday 27 December 2003 19:30, Gavin Henry wrote:
> One more question, should I go for C or C++? Which will benefit me more
> with GNU/Linux?

depends on what you want to work on ?
do you like KDE/QT ?  learn C++
maybe you like the kernel ?  learn C
it depends greatly on what kind of projects you enjoy ;)
-mike

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