Practical C Programming: Why Does 2+2 = 5986? (Nutshell Handbooks)
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There are lots of introductory C books, but this is the first one that has the no-nonsense, practical approach that has made Nutshell Handbooks(R) famous. C programming is more than just getting the syntax right. Style and debugging also play a tremendous part in creating programs that run well and are easy to maintain. This book teaches you not only the mechanics of programming, but also describes how to create programs that are easy to read, debug, and update. Practical rules are stressed. For example, there are fifteen precedence rules in C (&& comes before || comes before ?:). The practical programmer reduces these to two: Multiplication and division come before addition and subtraction. Contrary to popular belief, most programmers do not spend most of their time creating code. Most of their time is spent modifying someone else’s code. This books shows you how to avoid the all-too-common obfuscated uses of C (and also to recognize these uses when you encounter them in existing programs) and thereby to leave code that the programmer responsible for maintenance does not have to struggle with. Electronic Archaeology, the art of going through someone else’s code, is described. This third edition introduces popular Integrated Development Environments on Windows systems, as well as UNIX programming utilities, and features a large statistics-generating program to pull together the concepts and features in the language.
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ASIN : 1565923065
Publisher : O’Reilly Media
Publication date : September 9, 1997
Edition : 3rd
Language : English
Print length : 454 pages
ISBN-10 : 9781565923065
ISBN-13 : 978-1565923065
Item Weight : 1.65 pounds
Dimensions : 7 x 1.1 x 9.19 inches
Part of series : Nutshell Handbooks
Best Sellers Rank: #164,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #15 in C Programming Language #140 in Software Development (Books) #367 in Computer Software (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 163 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers say
Customers find the book easy to read and understand, with one noting it explains pointers well. Moreover, the writing quality receives positive feedback, with one customer mentioning it teaches how to write good programs. However, the learning pace and programming knowledge aspects receive mixed reviews, with some considering it the best self-learning resource while others find it not suitable for beginners.
13 reviews for Practical C Programming: Why Does 2+2 = 5986? (Nutshell Handbooks)
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Original price was: €45.€24Current price is: €24.
Model Citizen –
One of the Best!
I’m surprised at some of the single-star reviews for this book. IMHO, anyone who thinks this book isn’t clearly written simply didn’t spend enough time reading and thinking about the material. Let’s face it, programming isn’t easy — you need to learn some basic concepts, then learn the syntax of a language, then practice and move on to advanced features. This book does an excellent job of helping programmers, even complete novices, do just that.The author also goes beyond the basics, and covers some hints and tips that are not mentioned in any other beginner’s book that I can find. For example, many beginner’s books warn about the erratic behavior of scanf(), but only Practical C takes the extra step by providing a complete workaround (the author advises not to use scanf(), and to use fgets() and sscanf() instead).I’m only a beginner, and so far I have purchased and read through Greg Perry’s Absolute Beginner’s Guide to C, Dave Mark’s Learn C on the Macintosh (and on Win 95), the classic K&R C Programming Language, and Practical C. All of these books have their advantages, but I think K&R is a bit too difficult for complete newbies. The Perry and Mark books may be a little too simple, but they’re excellent quick reads. Practical C is the perfect middle ground, and I recommend that it be read in conjuction with one of the easier books before moving on to K&R.I also recommend that you read through a chapter completely to get the concepts, then go back and do all the exercises for reinforcement. That’s what I did, and even though I struggled to “get” some of the material the first time around, on the second read-through everything managed to sink in.I can’t recommend this book highly enough — it is clear, accurate, and a pleasure to read and work through.
Hui Li –
Best C Self-Learning Book
I think this book might be the best C self-learning book in my opinion. When I decided to learn C I shop around several “famous” books. This book caught my eye because it explains all the technical details so clearly. I am pretty sure the author understands C very well. Meanwhile, the author always emphasizes some best practices in coding which is super helpful when I started learning C. I understand this book is kind of old, but I still recommend this book to readers who want to learn C by him/herself.Notes: after finishing the book, another good one to read is Understanding and Using C Pointers.
tjmat –
Good choice
Perfect as a review for someone like me that hasnât programed in C for approx 40ish years.
Jacob Huisman –
Accessible and enlightening
Practical C Programming is really accessible and enlightening. The topic on pointers serves as a good example. Pointers are considered one of the most difficult, but at the same time one of the most important, topics in C. This book explains pointers really well. It does so by using simple language, examples and by using many illustrations. The illustrations have really helped me to comprehend pointers in C. The attached images show some of the illustrations used to explain pointers.These illustrations and explanations might seem really basic and a bit childish, but this way I understood the concepts on pointers straight away. It is actually a really valuable skill to be able to explain things simply. As Einstein said: “If you canât explain it simply, you donât understand it well enough.”Practical C Programming was actually not the first book on C that I started. I actually started with K&R2 (The C Programming Language). That was the book that was recommended and praised the most, so I figured I should study C using K&R2. I got to chapter 3, but with much difficulty. The authors of K&R2 mention that C is a small and concise language and that a book on C should therefore also be concise and small. This did not work well for me. The book assumes a lot of prior knowledge about computer science. New topics are not explained extensively. That’s why I switched to Practical C Programming and I am glad I did so. I expect to understand the content of K&R2 much better now that I have finished Practical C.As the title of the book states it is a practical book. It teaches more than just theory and the C syntax. It teaches how to write good programs and it focuses on good programming style.The book is quite old (1991 â 1997). Some information in the book is really outdated, but the main concepts and lessons still apply (I will share some examples about outdated info in the book later on).Overall I found Practical C Programming a really beneficial book. It is easy and enlightening as a first book on C. It is suitable and accessible for new programmers without much experience or a background in computer science. The book contain a few minor things that I disagree on with the author. I rate it 7.5 out of 10.
David Cabrera Lozoya –
Awesome book to learn C
I used this book to self teach me C.The examples are clear. It has a bunch of exercises. Some of the examples presented have errors but that is fully called out by the author, rather than thinking them as errors or examples, think of them as more exercises. You never really learn a programming language until you think in that language AND debug code from someone else. Learning C is not easy, nor instantaneous. You have to commit some time to it and preferably have some guidance along the way. This book is that guidance.
Jimmy c. Chivers –
Easy to read
I find this book easy to read and it does a fair job of explaining the meanings of the various terms that make up C programming. It certainly is a good reference book. I am glad I have it just to be able to use as a reference.
fireNice –
Someday I’ll finish this book. But it really does …
Someday I’ll finish this book. But it really does deliver on its promises just keep at it. One chapter a day will probably guarantee you finish the book under two months. Beware too that with each chapter, the solutions get even more complex. It’s just part of the learning process… you can just comeback again and try the chapter later.
Alise Ramirez –
I got a great deal on this
I got a great deal on this! It was around 50$ at the Barnes and Knoble and I got it for only a fraction of the cost. It came right on time and has been a great resource! No writing in it, perfect condition.
Nash –
Great companion for my CS50 AP
Diana S. –
This book has helped me to survive my engineering course! I did not do any programming prior to starting Uni and this book has helped me through many a quandary with the assessments that I have had to complete.
mn. –
O autor teve a brilhante ideia de ensinar como programar de forma profissional. Ele ensina, conforme a leitura evolui, cada peça que forma um programa em C no “mundo real”. Apesar da data de publicação, trata-se de um livro atemporal, como a própria linguagem escolhida pelo autor.
Adrian –
Nicely written. I found it helpful few times. It helped me to discover the aspects of C that I had no idea about.
Dan Stefan –
Le doy las 5 estrellas porque me ha sido de mucha utilidad, es un libro que tiene muchos ejemplos y al menos al tipo de personas como yo nos viene genial, porque con darnos sólo teorÃa a veces no nos cuaja demasiado sin buenos ejemplos. Vamos, que otros libros sólo tienen teorÃa y poca práctica, este tiene teorÃa y hasta el truco del almendruco.Lo cogà porque me hacÃa falta para la carrera de IngenierÃa de Computadores en Fundamentos de Programación aunque es mejor como libro de referencia para recordar o consultar dudas, recomiendo antes tener una ligera idea de C de ponerse con este libro, a no ser que seas un genio/a, entonces sÃ.Lo recomiendo a cualquiera con ilusión de aprender C, a los universitarios/as y adolescentes informáticos/as, a los/as que no entiendan los punteros y las estructuras ni para atrás y sobretodo a los/as desesperados/as el dÃa anterior de un examen de programación, por si queréis una biblia a la que rezarle el aprobado.