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Practical C Programming (A Nutshell handbook)
 
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Practical C Programming (A Nutshell handbook) (Paperback)

by Steve Oualline (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
RRP: £26.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 454 pages
  • Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; 3 edition (1 Aug 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1565923065
  • ISBN-13: 978-1565923065
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 18 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 92,051 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #47 in  Books > Computing & Internet > UNIX & Linux
    #59 in  Books > Computing & Internet > Programming > Languages > C & C++
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

Kenneth Wilcox, Boise Software Developers Group, Feb 2003

As scary as this may sound, this book actually makes C sound like fun!


Product Description

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. Put parentheses around everything else. 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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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars THE book to start learning C..., 13 Nov 2003
...or even improve your basic C skills with!

Steve Oualline, in this book, sets out how to write in C in a precise, easy to use fashion - even if you know next to nothing about how to write software. It's suitable for both getting started with embedded C and for PC based software, is explained in a manner that is neither condesending nor too highbrow.

Styling is covered in a sensible way, explaining both how you should make code readable for other people, but also that there isn't only one style that is correct.

Right through from getting your first "Hello World" program, through arrays, structures and pointers, topics are covered in a way to get the programmer started and give enough knowledge to experiment and expand your knowledge. Pitfalls and common problems are regularly outlined. There's even a great little chapter called "C's dustier corners" that tells of some of the parts of C you should avoid!

I've yet to find a better book about how to program in C.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Some good content but badly outdated, 8 April 2003
By C. C. Williams - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is an OK introduction to the C programming language but you can do much better.

It never really gets much beyond the basics, although there's some goodish material on coding linked lists and binary trees and suchlike. The best aspect is that it teaches good programming discipline and good coding style. The worst aspect is that it is badly out of date. This 3rd edition was published in 1997. Had it been up to date for 1997 it would still be useful, but it wasn't. An early chapter on IDEs discusses Turbo C++ and Visual C++ 1.0. Were you still using those in 1997? In a brief section on bitmapped graphics, I was shocked to read the following sentence: "More and more computers now have graphics. For the PC, there are graphics devices like EGA and VGA cards...". Really? EGA cards?

Yes, this book, like C, dates from ancient times when the mouse hadn't been invented, output devices were line-oriented and the graphical user interface a distant dream. Every programmer had to roll his own linked list and do his own memory management.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good beginners reference, use in conjunction with a bible, 23 Jan 2002
Good entry book to the language, teaches you basic programming style and how to start writing good C code.

You'll find yourself jumping back to the book as you write your first clusters of programs.

Later on, the book seems to bring you into advanced basic C programming if such a phrase makes sense..

I recommend that a C bible or reference book that is around the intermediate level is bought too.. you'll find yourself wanting to know more about whats available in C as you complete this book.

Overall, a good buy. OS independent on the whole. Dont buy this book if you're a beginner but want to integrate what you do into a Windows programming.. but buy this first before jumping into GUI programming anyway.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Most C beginner books teach you how to write C, this book teaches you how to write GOOD C. It teaches you all the tips and tricks that will save you time and stop you messing up... Read more
Published 18 months ago by "H"

3.0 out of 5 stars Yeah, so so....
Despite the title, this book is aimed squarely at newbies to programming, but nowadays beginners tend to steer clear of C, prefering something less 'messy' like java as a first... Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Look for a cow on the cover Practical C not C++
If there is not a cow on the cover of this book, you are reading the review for the wrong book. I bought this book for a C in UNIX class. The C part is great. Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2002 by bernie

4.0 out of 5 stars Good summary of general idears
This book is excellent if you have already been programming a lot but still have some of these un solved questions beacuse you somehow always read the command reference book and... Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars The mistakes are deliberate!
The mistakes in the program examples that other reviewers complain about are deliberate - read the Introduction.
Published on 3 April 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Directed me to the right path immediately.
The book is an extremely well written book about C. It teaches C in a very structured way that allows everyone to begin to understand the C programming language and its history. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars Buy or not to buy.
Though this books starts out very well, in stepwise fashion highlighting all the 'tool' needed to programme in C, it does dither later on. Read more
Published on 19 Aug 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars Half the examples in this book contain errors! :(
I'm only 2/3 of the way through this book so I can't give a definitive comment, but my main complaint is that the text is riddled with errors! Read more
Published on 20 May 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT a reference book
Do not buy this book if you are looking for a reference book. Not only is it not designed as such but the index is not complete enough for it to be used as such (e.g. Read more
Published on 3 May 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for programmers new to C
I've been programming for years and only recently started learning C, and this book (along with K&R) has given me all I needed to know. Read more
Published on 18 April 1999

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