C for Dummies (Paperback)

I found C For Dummies (Volume One) to be a very good introduction to C. It didn't jump right into complex programs and explain a few things about it before moving on to another complex program. The book started with easy and basic stuff like "printf" (Displaying words on the screen, or DOS in my case), moving on to "scanf" (Getting basic input) and slowly moving on from that. Every element was explained (I about 90% of cases), and you weren't suddenly thrown into the deep end without a paddle.

The bad side of this book is probably the "Humour". Although I'm all for some light hearted jokes, since I run a satirical news magazine, but I did find that in many cases, the gags where distracting. Although this is just my personal view. Gookin's writing style is pretty informal, again doing his best to make the subject a bit easier, but at times it causes Gookin to dither, rather than just get straight to the point.

A lot of professional programmers hate this book because it uses non standard code, i.e. void main() instead of int main (void), and the programs don't end with return (0);. This is just a triviality. I honestly don't believe it will hurt the reader one bit, as C For Dummies is not the be all and end all of learning about C. Those who go on in programming will learn about this stuff, and will have no problems fitting into the standard code mould.

Another thing to bear in mind is that this book was written very much with the American reader in mind, so be prepared to be reminded of America's GDP, uncle sam and more.

One thing which is a bit of a waste is the section on using DOS and BIOS functions. Approximately 14 pages are devoted to the topic, where you'll be invited to type in stuff like regs.h.al=1;. It's odd that Goodkin should include this, and at the end admit that it's "Pretty much a dead art". Plus, I wasn't able to get most of the DOS and BIOS exercises to run through Visual C++. I imagine Gooking was trying to be as thorough as possible, but you also have to remember that this book was written somewhere in 1994, so it's inevitably a bit dated.

In the end, most people who learn C will go on to C++, and if that's your goal, then this is the right book for you. I don't know whether it'll be the be the only book on C that you'll need to move on to C++, but once you finish C For Dummies, and understand the concepts of C, you will find it a million times easier to move on to C++ than if you had just picked up one of those "Beginner" C++ books.

In short, if you have no prior programming knowledge, are on your last tether and still have the will to do programming, these two books will lay the foundations for C++. Be prepared to absorb a lot of non useful banter, and American patriotism, but if you make it through both volumes, you will be far better equipped to go on to C++, and succeed first time than a lot of people who try to jump right into the deep end, only to find themselves giving up on programming completely.