Favorite C book

[GermyBoy]

I am wanting to learn more C, but don't want to buy a lot of books. My library sucks and only has things about the abacus (when searching for computer) so I have to buy them myself if I really wanna do anything.

What is your favorite book on C, and why?

 

[AMDPwred]

I'd be spending more time with Java or C# than C.

 

[QTPie]

C Primer. It's thick, but it has lots of info. A very good reference book.
But if you're too lazy (like me 😉 ) and/or you have no idea about C/C++, SAMS Teach Yourself C in 24 Hours by Tony Yang is a great book. The author explains many very basic details that usually overlooked by other authors, for example, he explains why/what is "#include <stdio.h>" for 2.5 pages (p 31-33). However, the author doesn't cover in-depth and highly technical stuff.

 

[GermyBoy]

<< I'd be spending more time with Java or C# than C. >>



Anything you can do with Java or C# can be done with C.

 

[crypticlogin]

<<

<< I'd be spending more time with Java or C# than C. >>



Anything you can do with Java or C# can be done with C. >>


I think AMDpwred was hinting that C# and Java are more contemporary than C, meaning a more marketable/"important" language to know. If that's the case, I'll partly agree with Java and a little more so with C#. Personally, I'd recommend looking into C++ simply because it's (essentially) a superset of C. Most of C is contained in C++, and you get the nifty OO features. My two cents.

 

[manly]

<< Anything you can do with Java or C# can be done with C. >>


Sure but then you can use Assembly as well. The point is that Java or C# is vastly more productive for a large class of end-user programs, particularly when you consider the standard libraries available.

I'm not much of a C hacker these days, but I assume you already have a copy of K&R C? Pound for pound, it's one of the best programming books available.

 

[QTPie]

<<Anything you can do with Java or C# can be done with C. >>

But not otherwise, in terms of coding for hardware (drivers, controllers, etc.)
If you're in hardware development field, you'll see how useless Java and C# are.

 

[XZeroII]

What are you talking about? C is horrible. I only use assembly because it's sooo much better. I remember back in the day when I would program in 0's and 1's. Now that was programming. I remember once when I had to write an entire operating system using only 1's because the company contracting was too cheap to puchase enough memory to hold 0's because zero is not a number and we shouldn't need memory to store a number that doesn't exist. Now everyone is talking about your 'C' and your 'Java', but where's the heart? There's no heart in today's apps!

 

[tweakmm]

oxymoron?
I think so 🙂