[ale] C programming books

[Joseph Rattz Jr]

> old C. Its also
> much easier for a new programmer to learn than C.

If C++ is a superset of C, how is it "much easier" to
learn?  I strongly disagree with that.

I would recommend at least two C books.  You need one
as a reference, and one to actually teach you the
language.  

The reference is easier.  The C Programming Language
is okay, though brief, and has been recommended many
times already.  I however prefer the ANSI and ISO
Standard C Programmer's Reference by Plauger and
Brodie.  I think it's layout is more logical.  And,
while K&R may have invented the language, as it sits
now, Plauger and Brodie probably have a better grasp
of it.  Another neat book for this purpose is The
Annotated ANSI C Standard by Herbert Schildt.  It is
really neat in that there is an exact reproduction of
the actual ANSI standard on the left hand pages, and
Schildt's interpretations of what it means on the
right hand pages.  No more arguing over what is ANSI
and what is not!  You'ld be surprised how much is left
up to the implementation.

The tutorial type book is a little tougher to
recommend.  A friend of mine bought C For Dummies, and
when I looked at it, I saw several errors in the early
code examples.  Also, this book attempts to be
humorous and cute, and while this is entertaining, it
takes so much more reading and time to sift through
the crap to get to the point.  The best book I have
seen to learn C with is called C For Beginners or
Beginning C or something like that.  It was a book for
the Amiga and was published by Abacus/Data Becker. 
While some of the later chapters dealt with Amiga
specifics that would not apply, most of the chapters
are very good and still apply.  Also, I don;t know if
it exists, but if there is a C From The Ground Up
book, I would take a look at it.  I have found that
series fo books to be pretty good.

--- Benjamin Scherrey <scherrey at switchco.com> wrote:
> I recommend that you buy a C++ book instead and
> learn that. There is
> absolutely no reason to learn plain old C any more
> and if you later
> decide to learn C++, you'll have to unlearn a bunch
> of bad habits that
> are common usage with C. You don't have to program
> object oriented to
> use C++. Just take advantage of it's easier to use
> constructs, type
> safety, great standard library (strings and
> containers oh my!) and
> you'll be a good bit further along than with plain
> old C. Its also
> much easier for a new programmer to learn than C.
> Besides, it pays
> better.
> 
> 	later,
> 
> 		Ben Scherrey
> 
> Tri wrote:
> > 
> > I know I asked this before but I'm going to ask it
> again...
> > 
> > I'm going to buy a C programming book  from
> Amazon.com very very soon.
> > Is there a "Must Get" book you can suggest for a
> beginner. I don't want
> > a very easy, hand holding book, just one that lays
> the basic groundwork
> > quickly and thoroughly and goes into detail about
> the advanced stuff.
> > 
> > Tri
> 
> 

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