Book suggestions

[Rob Kendrick]

Hi,

I'm a C programmer of (I'd like to think) intermediate skill and
experience, able to throw most things together quite happily in C. I'd
like to get to the point of being able to legitimately use the word
"expert" on my CV. Does the group have any suggestions for books
targeted at the intermediate programmer, rather than beginning?

I suppose what I'm after is a guide that helps me build on what I already
know.

I'm shamed to say I don't even own a copy of K&R - is this essential
reading?

B.

[osmium]

"Rob Kendrick" wrote:

I'm a C programmer of (I'd like to think) intermediate skill and
experience, able to throw most things together quite happily in C. I'd
like to get to the point of being able to legitimately use the word
"expert" on my CV. Does the group have any suggestions for books
targeted at the intermediate programmer, rather than beginning?

I suppose what I'm after is a guide that helps me build on what I already
know.

I'm shamed to say I don't even own a copy of K&R - is this essential
reading?

I don't know if it is essential reading at this point, but I would never
dream of admitting to an interviewer that I didn't have my own copy, I might
even suggest it was well worn - which, in fact it is, pages are coming out.

For a more advanced book I would suggest _Expert C Programming_ by Peter Van
der Linden, it is not only informative, it is interesting too.

[Rob Kendrick]

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:22:58 -0700, osmium wrote:

>I'm shamed to say I don't even own a copy of K&R - is this essential
reading?

I don't know if it is essential reading at this point, but I would never
dream of admitting to an interviewer that I didn't have my own copy, I
might even suggest it was well worn - which, in fact it is, pages are
coming out.

In the past, I've just referred to the spec, which is less than ideal.

For a more advanced book I would suggest _Expert C Programming_ by Peter
Van der Linden, it is not only informative, it is interesting too.

Looks excellent. I'll add it to the list - thanks.

B.

[Richard]

"osmium" <r1********@com cast.netwrites:

"Rob Kendrick" wrote:

>I'm a C programmer of (I'd like to think) intermediate skill and
experience, able to throw most things together quite happily in C. I'd
like to get to the point of being able to legitimately use the word
"expert" on my CV. Does the group have any suggestions for books
targeted at the intermediate programmer, rather than beginning?

I suppose what I'm after is a guide that helps me build on what I already
know.

I'm shamed to say I don't even own a copy of K&R - is this essential
reading?

I don't know if it is essential reading at this point, but I would never
dream of admitting to an interviewer that I didn't have my own copy, I might
even suggest it was well worn - which, in fact it is, pages are coming out.

For a more advanced book I would suggest _Expert C Programming_ by Peter Van
der Linden, it is not only informative, it is interesting too.

I second that. I good read.

[Robert Gamble]

On Oct 21, 12:16 pm, Rob Kendrick <[e-mail] rote:

Hi,

I'm a C programmer of (I'd like to think) intermediate skill and
experience, able to throw most things together quite happily in C. I'd
like to get to the point of being able to legitimately use the word
"expert" on my CV. Does the group have any suggestions for books
targeted at the intermediate programmer, rather than beginning?

I suppose what I'm after is a guide that helps me build on what I already
know.

I'm shamed to say I don't even own a copy of K&R - is this essential
reading?

I would definitely pick up a copy of K&R2, it will give you a good
opportunity to gauge how much you really know about the language,
learn a few new things, and make yourself more well-rounded. I would
have a difficult time hiring someone who billed themself a C
programmer who didn't own and had never read K&R.

Below is a list of C books currently on my bookshelf that I would
recommend as intermediate/advanced or reference:

"Expert C Programming" by Peter van der Linden
"Secure Coding in C and C++" by Robert C. Seacord
"The Standard C Library" by P. J. Plauger
"C: A Reference Manual (5th edition)" by Harbison & Steele

I would also recommend reading the entire comp.lang.c FAQ (which
appears to be down at the moment): http://www.c-faq.com.

--
Robert Gamble

[Rob Kendrick]

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:24:26 +0530, santosh wrote:

Well, one book that gets tossed around a lot is _C Unleashed_ by
Heathfield, Kirby et al.

I'll see if I can find a copy.

You might also consider books on system programming and programming for
specific systems like Unix, Windows etc. Also you might consider books
like _UNIX Network Programming_ by Stevens.

I already own a copy of this from another project. It is indeed
excellent.

>I'm shamed to say I don't even own a copy of K&R - is this essential
reading?

IMO, yes.

I'll add it to the list, then.

Thanks!

B.

[Rob Kendrick]

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:26:28 +0000, Robert Gamble wrote:

I would definitely pick up a copy of K&R2, it will give you a good
opportunity to gauge how much you really know about the language, learn
a few new things, and make yourself more well-rounded. I would have a
difficult time hiring someone who billed themself a C programmer who
didn't own and had never read K&R.

I didn't say I hadn't read it :) I borrowed it from my local library and
read it many years ago, when I was first starting in C. I suppose I
could do with a reread.

Below is a list of C books currently on my bookshelf that I would
recommend as intermediate/advanced or reference:

"Expert C Programming" by Peter van der Linden "Secure Coding in C and
C++" by Robert C. Seacord "The Standard C Library" by P. J. Plauger "C:
A Reference Manual (5th edition)" by Harbison & Steele

van der Linden's work seems to be widely recommended, so I've put that at
the top of my shopping list, along with K&R.

Thanks for your input.

B.

[Richard]

santosh <sa*********@gm ail.comwrites:

Rob Kendrick wrote:

>Hi,

I'm a C programmer of (I'd like to think) intermediate skill and
experience, able to throw most things together quite happily in C.
I'd like to get to the point of being able to legitimately use the
word "expert" on my CV. Does the group have any suggestions for books
targeted at the intermediate programmer, rather than beginning?

Well, one book that gets tossed around a lot is _C Unleashed_ by
Heathfield, Kirby et al.

By far the two biggest recommendations are K&R2 and the Van der Linden
book.

One another book is _Expert C Programming_ by Peter Van der Linden.

You might also consider books on system programming and programming for
specific systems like Unix, Windows etc. Also you might consider books
like _UNIX Network Programming_ by Stevens. I know these are not about
C per se, but they do use C as their language and illustrate fairly
advanced programming tasks.

In a terribly non CLC way. The Stevens book in particular uses a dialect
of C which would see him laughed out of this NG.

>

>I'm shamed to say I don't even own a copy of K&R - is this essential
reading?

IMO, yes.

100% agreed.

[Default User]

santosh wrote:

Rob Kendrick wrote:

Does the group have any suggestions for
books targeted at the intermediate programmer, rather than
beginning?

Well, one book that gets tossed around a lot is _C Unleashed_ by
Heathfield, Kirby et al.

Ha. Maybe Hercules could toss that around. Mere mortals would require
the assistance of two men and boy.


Brian

[Tyler Smith]

On 2007-10-21, Robert Gamble <rg*******@gmai l.comwrote:

>
Below is a list of C books currently on my bookshelf that I would
recommend as intermediate/advanced or reference:

"Expert C Programming" by Peter van der Linden
"Secure Coding in C and C++" by Robert C. Seacord
"The Standard C Library" by P. J. Plauger
"C: A Reference Manual (5th edition)" by Harbison & Steele

Hi,

From the sounds of it, I'm not as experienced as the original poster,
but I'm very interested in C reference books. I've read K&R, and
worked through most of the problems, and I am now contributing code to
a text processing program (latex2rtf), so I can handle at least basic
C.

However, what I'd really like is something akin to some of the more
popular Python or Perl books, which provide a broader survey of how
you apply the language, rather than the language itself - network
programming, cgi, database, gui. It seems that most recommendations
for books to follow K&R deal with more esoteric corners of the
language. I know I'd benefit from a deeper understanding of pointers,
but at the moment I'd rather work on broadening my knowledge of
applying C to specific application areas.

For example, I want to build an sql database with a html interface.
There are books explaining just this in Perl, Python, Ruby etc., but I
haven't found a reference to guide me through doing this with C. Do
people even do this stuff with C, and if so, what books do they learn
from? Or would I be better using a Python book as an introduction to
the problem, and then using C once I understand how it works?

It's probably pretty clear at this point that I don't have a very
strong background in computing in general. I check out all the
recommendations I see around here, but stuff like Expert C Programming
just doesn't seem to be aimed at people in my position. Any other
suggestions for people like me, or should I stick to stand-alone
command line stuff for my C programs and start learning a scripting
language for other things?

Thanks,

Tyler