Hi there,

I've been playing around with Gambas BASIC for a few months, but have decided to start with C.
I'm looking for a book that is concisely written, but thats also has lots of exercises and examples for practice.

After browsing on Amazon for a while, I was not able to find anything (from the reviews and descriptions) that is exactly what I want.
There is a book on Objective-C though that seems to be applauded for having lots of exercises and that is explained in a very good manner (read the reviews at the end to see what I mean):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-...9871693&sr=1-1

This is the type of book that I'm looking for, but for C.

Anything like this come to mind?

BTW, its ok the recommend a door-step sized book, I'm not afraid to read

Thanks in advance!

I don't know if you've taken a look at the Book Reviews here on LQ, but there are several C books listed there:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/review...hp?product=409
http://www.linuxquestions.org/review...hp?product=395 (By the creators of C and Unix)
http://www.linuxquestions.org/review...hp?product=352
http://www.linuxquestions.org/review...hp?product=137
http://www.linuxquestions.org/review...hp?product=108

Every C programmer should have a copy of The C Programming Language, 2nd Edition by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie (aka K&R).

Heh, can't believe I missed that....

Thanks for the replies, I'll look at those

"The Waite Group's C Primer Plus" looks like a good place to start.
"The C Programming Language" maybe a little later on :P

I always keep my copy of "Advanced Programming in the Unix Enviroment" and "The C programming language" in my bag.

I'll have to second, third, fourth ... ;}
"The C programming language"


Awesome work. Very clear, very beautiful.


Cheers,
Tink

That K&R book is by the guys that wrote the language, am I right? But I don't know if it was updated to conform with ANSI C. If you want a video lecture series to go along with pretty much any textbook check out the University of Washington CSE 142 series. It comes with the overhead slides that the professor is referring to, so it feels a lot like being in a classroom. My problem is that I've watched that but I need the homework problems and project assignments and code examples.

How about Linux Programming by Example, Robbins. It doesn't teach C, but it puts it into the Linux context with examples so hand in hand with the K&R book you would learn quite a bit.

K & R is a bit terse for a beginner. I'd recommend http://www.amazon.com/Book-C-Program...9916420&sr=1-1
(A Book On C). Good explanations of concepts and lots of examples, explained line by line.

Yes, you are right. Dennis Ritchie designed and implemented the C programming language. Brian Kernighan worked with him at Bell Labs (alone with Ken Thompson who created the original UNIX with Ritchie). The 2nd addition was updated for ANSI C. I have read a lot of C books and none are as clear and concise as K&R's in my opinion.

Thanks for all the answers!

I'm buying "C Primer Plus", Fifth Edition to start out with.
After I get more familiar with C, K&R's book will definitely find its way into my hands

Hey, could you maybe give a link to that for me. I know what you mean I've read a lot of really good stuff about the C language ,but i don't know where to start on getting a practical grasp on the language.

http://www.cs.washington.edu/educati...00au/lectures/
This is the link to the C series, the C++ series is CSE143. Download the zipped files, then extract just the .asf video file and the slides, don't even worry about all the .html files in there.

Well, the 960 page door-step called "C Primer Plus, Fifth Edition" arrived today.
Time to start having fun!