Re: Good C books

[Jeff Licquia <jeff@luci.org>]

On Wed, Apr 12, 2000 at 09:56:15AM -0500, Burke, Jason wrote:

> If you're still interested in C after this book then I would 
> recommend getting this book:
> 
> The C Programming Language
> By: Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie
> ISBN: 0131103628
> 
> This is probably the most compact and through text on the
> C language (of course that's because it's written by the 
> designers of C). The really valuable part of this book is that
> it gives you a glimpse into the thinking behind C and how it 
> works under Unix. This is not a beginners book per se, but
> it contains a great number of useful gems for C programmers
> of any level. I find myself coming back to this one again 
> and again (it also has a nice breakdown of what's supposed 
> to be in the standard C library).

Just make sure you get the second (or later) edition.  The first
edition describes the first version of C; several things have been
changed since then that really improve the language.

FWIW, pre-ANSI, this book was the definitive reference for C; C was
defined as "the programming language described in K&R".  It is also
considered a classic programmer's book, right up there with Knuth and
"The Mythical Man-Month" and the like.

For my own book recommendations:

"Learning to Program in C", by Thomas Plum.  The primer for my first C 
class.  Tom Plum was one of the really early C hackers, along with
P. J. Plauger and the like.  I found it very easy.

"Using C on the Unix System", by David Curry (O'Reilly).  Very short,
to the point, and amazingly complete given its small size.  Describes
issues for programming in C on Unix.

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