Re: Books and resources for a C beginner.
Hi all. This post is: 1) to test an issue I have had in posting to the list via my ISPs smarthost hence the different email address and 2) in response to various replies I have had to this thread 1) will serve my curiosity hopefully, 2) will be of some help to others. I have limited bandwidth so there is little point in me spamming URLs out, which I hope this is not thought to be an attempt at doing. On the subject of books, not only C related, I have compiled a list of books that I find helpful. I include ISBNs and brief descriptions, where appropriate. Although not very informative as yet, I am beginning to journal my findings as I journey into C programming and as I expand upon it, I hope that it might be helpful to others in my position. This should be my last post to this thread of this nature, so as not to be thought of as taking the mickey. These can be found at: http://slashboot.org/ I have only been using OpenBSD for a couple of months or so and any BSD for at most 6 months, so the suggestions that I offer should be very suitable for those new to the operating systems. Just trying to do my bit, to help others in a similar position. Best regards and a happy and prosperous new year to all, Craig McCormick bsd squiggle slashboot d()t org mccraigy squiggle googlemail d()t com http://slashboot.org/
Books and resources for a C beginner.
Hi all. I hope not to get too much stick for this and that this isn't seen as entirely inappropriate to this list, but here goes. I'm not a computing newbie by any means, having been an enthusiast and 'enjoyed' a career in systems/network management. I think I can program reasonably well in scripted languages, Perl, shell, *cough*PHP*cough*, can structure my code well and am thorough enough to research, avoid and check my code for possible gotchas and such like. Since moving to BSD, I've really wanted to get into learning to program in C and understand that this is probably the best platform to do so. In fact, considering my prolonged involvement in computing, it's almost an embarrassment that I haven't already. I have been working through some online primers and tutorials, which I'm comfortable with and have a good understanding of what I'm doing so far. I plan to get 'the only two books on C that I might ever need' namely; The C Programming Language (2nd Edition) By Brian W. Kernighan - ISBN: 0131103628 and C: A Reference Manual By Samuel P. Harbison Guy L. Steele - ISBN: 013089592X but wonder if anybody has any advice on other materials and resources. Also, as I'm not exactly loaded with cash, would it be appropriate to get the Kernighan book first and then the Reference Manual at a later date, or would it be better to get them both from the start? What, non cynical, advice would you give to somebody who is starting off on the road? Many thanks for any advice offered and apologies if this isn't the place for this post. -- Best regards, Craig McCormick bsd squiggle slashboot d()t org mccraigy squiggle googlemail d()t com http://slashboot.org/
Re: Books and resources for a C beginner.
Well, well, well. How helpful are the OpenBSD community? Very, in my mind. Thanks to the advice from here, I've now decided that I'll start the ball rolling with: Programming in C Kochan ISBN: 0672326663 to get me started. I'm a bit blown away by all the hugely positive reviews of this book, at Amazon. This will be followed by, or ordered at the same time as: The C Programming Language (2nd Edition) KR ISBN: 0131103628 as I'd plainly be a fool not to. Praise be. And at a later date, once it's warranted, I'll add: Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment Stevens Rago ISBN: 0201433079 which again has some excellent reviews and I'm already impressed with Stevens' work, from TCP/IP Illustrated Vol.1. How could I not be? Many thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated. All the best, Craig
