|
|
Sponsored Content
Top Forums
Programming
Good book to learn C
Post 302534037 by alister on Sunday 26th of June 2011 05:34:44 PM
06-26-2011
I second agama's opinion. Kernighan and Ritchie's The C Programming Language is a fine way to start. I learned C from the yellowing 2nd edition copy that I have right here.
From the back cover: "C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book." The main section of the book is only 189 pages (followed by reference material). Compared to 1000+ page programming tomes common today, this is remarkably brief.
This book will give you a solid understanding of the ANSI C language (C89 to be precise) and its standard library. Nothing more. It does not deal with kernel system call interfaces, compiler/toolchain instructions, etc, which is a good thing in my opinion. Because it concentrates on C, it has aged quite well.
The book uses a very clear writing style, so you should be able to digest the dense areas agama mentioned. Working through the provided exercises will help you here.
If you do decide to use K&R, make sure it's the 2nd Edition; using someone's 1st edition will teach you an older, pre-ANSI dialect that you'll only encounter in geriatric code (no offense, old timers
).
Whichever book you choose, once you've finished it and have spent some time hacking with C, you may want to peruse comp.lang.c Frequently Asked Questions and see how well you do with their questions. It'll help reinforce what you've learned and will probably teach you quite a few things regarding commonplace mistakes and unfounded assumptions.
Regards and good luck,
Alister
From the back cover: "C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book." The main section of the book is only 189 pages (followed by reference material). Compared to 1000+ page programming tomes common today, this is remarkably brief.
This book will give you a solid understanding of the ANSI C language (C89 to be precise) and its standard library. Nothing more. It does not deal with kernel system call interfaces, compiler/toolchain instructions, etc, which is a good thing in my opinion. Because it concentrates on C, it has aged quite well.
The book uses a very clear writing style, so you should be able to digest the dense areas agama mentioned. Working through the provided exercises will help you here.
If you do decide to use K&R, make sure it's the 2nd Edition; using someone's 1st edition will teach you an older, pre-ANSI dialect that you'll only encounter in geriatric code (no offense, old timers
).Whichever book you choose, once you've finished it and have spent some time hacking with C, you may want to peruse comp.lang.c Frequently Asked Questions and see how well you do with their questions. It'll help reinforce what you've learned and will probably teach you quite a few things regarding commonplace mistakes and unfounded assumptions.
Regards and good luck,
Alister
|
|
10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting
1. Linux
I have just transferred from an mainframe DB2 area to an area that uses LINUX. Any suggestions for a good book to buy for learning LINUX? (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: bigdawg
1 Replies
2. Programming
can any one help me and told me about a good books to learn
1- pro c/c++ under unix
2- programming network using c under unix
thnx in advance. (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: kazanoova2
1 Replies
3. Shell Programming and Scripting
Hi,
Please suggest me any good book to learn pearl scripting.
Thanks in advance !!!!:) (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: vkvishwakarma6
5 Replies
4. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers
My knowledge is weak in understanding NIS servers, setting up user accounts, mounting network file systems, clearing stale NFS handles, those sorts of things that I encounter but my IT server team handles.
Can anyone recommend a good book on the subject? Something to demystify mount points,... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: srhadden
1 Replies
5. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers
which is a gud book to learn advanced korn shell scripting?
i know the basic shell scripting (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: shishirkotkar
1 Replies
6. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers
What is the Best book to learn UNIX from the begining?
am really a beginner and no nothing about UNIX, so what are the track that i have to trace in order to be a professional in UNIX and scripting?
What are the best books to learn it and what are the certificates such as CCNA in networks... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: eng.pirlo
5 Replies
7. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers
I'm looking for a book to learn Linux Kernel
Now I got a basic C and operating system concept
Thanks (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: Runicer
1 Replies
8. What is on Your Mind?
Hi guys, which book are you raccomand to start learn Perl from the ground ? (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: solaris_user
1 Replies
9. Programming
Actually I know bit of C++ and Java & C# for a extend.
But when I have tried to go through some online exams of C++, I have found out that there's a lot for me to learn in C++ also. And as I Believe, most of the things are the once that C++, got from C. Actually I'm good with those OOP concepts... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: Nohim Ys
3 Replies
10. Shell Programming and Scripting
I'm going to be starting a job in a month or so that I need to brush up on my Unix shell scripting skills. About 15 years ago, I took a college class for Unix shell scripting. I would like to find a good college book again, rather than just going to Amazon and just buying anything.
This is... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: dorlow
2 Replies
LEARN ABOUT MOJAVE
perlbook5.18
PERLBOOK(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLBOOK(1) NAME
perlbook - Books about and related to Perl DESCRIPTION
There are many books on Perl and Perl-related. A few of these are good, some are OK, but many aren't worth your money. There is a list of these books, some with extensive reviews, at http://books.perl.org/ . We list some of the books here, and while listing a book implies our endorsement, don't think that not including a book means anything. Most of these books are available online through Safari Books Online ( http://safaribooksonline.com/ ). The most popular books The major reference book on Perl, written by the creator of Perl, is Programming Perl: Programming Perl (the "Camel Book"): by Tom Christiansen, brian d foy, Larry Wall with Jon Orwant ISBN 978-0-596-00492-7 [4th edition February 2012] ISBN 978-1-4493-9890-3 [ebook] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596004927 The Ram is a cookbook with hundreds of examples of using Perl to accomplish specific tasks: The Perl Cookbook (the "Ram Book"): by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington, with Foreword by Larry Wall ISBN 978-0-596-00313-5 [2nd Edition August 2003] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596003135/ If you want to learn the basics of Perl, you might start with the Llama book, which assumes that you already know a little about programming: Learning Perl (the "Llama Book") by Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy ISBN 978-1-4493-0358-7 [6th edition June 2011] http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920018452 The tutorial started in the Llama continues in the Alpaca, which introduces the intermediate features of references, data structures, object-oriented programming, and modules: Intermediate Perl (the "Alpaca Book") by Randal L. Schwartz and brian d foy, with Tom Phoenix foreword by Damian Conway ISBN 978-1-4493-9309-0 [2nd edition August 2012] http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920012689/ References You might want to keep these desktop references close by your keyboard: Perl 5 Pocket Reference by Johan Vromans ISBN 978-1-4493-0370-9 [5th edition July 2011] ISBN 978-1-4493-0813-1 [ebook] http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920018476/ Perl Debugger Pocket Reference by Richard Foley ISBN 978-0-596-00503-0 [1st edition January 2004] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596005030/ Regular Expression Pocket Reference by Tony Stubblebine ISBN 978-0-596-51427-3 [July 2007] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514273/ Tutorials Beginning Perl by James Lee ISBN 1-59059-391-X [3rd edition April 2010] http://www.apress.com/9781430227939 Learning Perl by Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy ISBN 978-0-596-52010-6 [5th edition June 2008] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596520106 Intermediate Perl (the "Alpaca Book") by Randal L. Schwartz and brian d foy, with Tom Phoenix foreword by Damian Conway ISBN 0-596-10206-2 [1st edition March 2006] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596102067 Mastering Perl by brian d foy ISBN 978-0-596-10206-7 [1st edition July 2007] http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527242 Effective Perl Programming by Joseph N. Hall, Joshua A. McAdams, brian d foy ISBN 0-321-49694-9 [2nd edition 2010] http://www.effectiveperlprogramming.com/ Task-Oriented Writing Perl Modules for CPAN by Sam Tregar ISBN 1-59059-018-X [1st edition August 2002] http://www.apress.com/9781590590188 The Perl Cookbook by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington with foreword by Larry Wall ISBN 1-56592-243-3 [2nd edition August 2003] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596003135 Automating System Administration with Perl by David N. Blank-Edelman ISBN 978-0-596-00639-6 [2nd edition May 2009] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596006396 Real World SQL Server Administration with Perl by Linchi Shea ISBN 1-59059-097-X [1st edition July 2003] http://www.apress.com/9781590590973 Special Topics Regular Expressions Cookbook by Jan Goyvaerts and Steven Levithan ISBN 978-0-596-52069-4 [May 2009] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596520694 Programming the Perl DBI by Tim Bunce and Alligator Descartes ISBN 978-1-56592-699-8 [February 2000] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781565926998 Perl Best Practices by Damian Conway ISBN: 978-0-596-00173-5 [1st edition July 2005] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596001735 Higher-Order Perl by Mark-Jason Dominus ISBN: 1-55860-701-3 [1st edition March 2005] http://hop.perl.plover.com/ Mastering Regular Expressions by Jeffrey E. F. Friedl ISBN 978-0-596-52812-6 [3rd edition August 2006] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596528126 Network Programming with Perl by Lincoln Stein ISBN 0-201-61571-1 [1st edition 2001] http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Network-Programming-with-Perl/9780201615715.page Perl Template Toolkit by Darren Chamberlain, Dave Cross, and Andy Wardley ISBN 978-0-596-00476-7 [December 2003] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596004767 Object Oriented Perl by Damian Conway with foreword by Randal L. Schwartz ISBN 1-884777-79-1 [1st edition August 1999] http://www.manning.com/conway/ Data Munging with Perl by Dave Cross ISBN 1-930110-00-6 [1st edition 2001] http://www.manning.com/cross Mastering Perl/Tk by Steve Lidie and Nancy Walsh ISBN 978-1-56592-716-2 [1st edition January 2002] http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781565927162 Extending and Embedding Perl by Tim Jenness and Simon Cozens ISBN 1-930110-82-0 [1st edition August 2002] http://www.manning.com/jenness Pro Perl Debugging by Richard Foley with Andy Lester ISBN 1-59059-454-1 [1st edition July 2005] http://www.apress.com/9781590594544 Free (as in beer) books Some of these books are available as free downloads. Higher-Order Perl: http://hop.perl.plover.com/ Other interesting, non-Perl books You might notice several familiar Perl concepts in this collection of ACM columns from Jon Bentley. The similarity to the title of the major Perl book (which came later) is not completely accidental: Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley ISBN 978-0-201-65788-3 [2 edition, October 1999] More Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley ISBN 0-201-11889-0 [January 1988] A note on freshness Each version of Perl comes with the documentation that was current at the time of release. This poses a problem for content such as book lists. There are probably very nice books published after this list was included in your Perl release, and you can check the latest released version at http://perldoc.perl.org/perlbook.html . Some of the books we've listed appear almost ancient in internet scale, but we've included those books because they still describe the current way of doing things. Not everything in Perl changes every day. Many of the beginner-level books, too, go over basic features and techniques that are still valid today. In general though, we try to limit this list to books published in the past five years. Get your book listed If your Perl book isn't listed and you think it should be, let us know. perl v5.18.2 2013-11-04 PERLBOOK(1)