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C: The Complete Nonsense

seebs.net

31–36 of 36 posts

Re: C: The Complete Nonsense

#31

Please remind those of us reading this thread who are less familiar with the reliable books on the subject what books are good books about C. I know about K & R, but what else do busy C programmers recommend? After edit: when you know a book is crap, do you say so in reviews on Amazon.com? That's helpful for people browsing books by subject.

For newbies, Kelly and Pohl's "A Book On C" has been excellent.

Re: C: The Complete Nonsense

#32
post #20

Please remind those of us reading this thread who are less familiar with the reliable books on the subject what books are good books about C. I know about K & R, but what else do busy C programmers recommend? After edit: when you know a book is crap, do you say so in reviews on Amazon.com? That's helpful for people browsing books by subject.

I found Peter van der Linden's Expert C Programming to be excellent, and, as a bonus, fun to read (which you can't really say of K&R ).

I consider this to be one of the best books on programming ever written.

If you really want to know C, read this book.

Re: C: The Complete Nonsense

#33

Please remind those of us reading this thread who are less familiar with the reliable books on the subject what books are good books about C. I know about K & R, but what else do busy C programmers recommend? After edit: when you know a book is crap, do you say so in reviews on Amazon.com? That's helpful for people browsing books by subject.

I don't know if it's considered good, but here's an online option:

http://publications.gbdirect.co.uk/c_book/

Re: C: The Complete Nonsense

#34
post #6

Not sure what the point is in bashing a book thats known to be crap.

It's "known to be crap" among the people who already know the language, because of folks like Seebs. That's the point.

It's a little dated now, I suppose, but it may be worth remembering that Schildt's books were very popular at one point. Quite a number of people learned C from that awful book, with no idea how many bad habits they were ingesting.

Re: C: The Complete Nonsense

#35
post #8
post #6

Not sure what the point is in bashing a book thats known to be crap.

It's not known to everybody, apparently. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writings_of_Herbert_Schildt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writings_of_Herbert_Schildt#Rec...

"Schildt's books have a reputation for being written in a clear style that is very easy to understand.[10] Their technical accuracy, especially of the earlier works, has been challenged by reviewers, including ISO C committee members Peter Seebach,[11] and Clive Feather,[12] Steve Summit, author of the C FAQ[13], and numerous reviews in C Vu from the ACCU.[14]"

I'm not an expert on C, writing, publishing or proof reading. Over the last twenty years, whenever Schildt's name or books have come up in conversation online or off, there has always been an associated foul odor.

There are so many good books on C, it's just not worth it to waste your time and space on his books.

Re: C: The Complete Nonsense

#36
post #23
post #6

Not sure what the point is in bashing a book thats known to be crap.

To demonstrate that the new edition is still crap. It does not only warn (new) people to stay away from it, it also reflects badly on the publisher, who only seems able to bring out shoddy work.

Not to speak of what it says about a professor who uses it as the text for an introductory course...
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