C All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies

NOTE ABOUT WINDOWS VISTA/WINDOWS 7: There are many FREE compiler's that work with this book available to download! Before I type my review I realize that it is highly possible that some people may be contemplating purchasing this book, but wondering if they can find a compiler to use with this book on modern Windows Vista/Windows 7 computers. The answer is yes there are many FREE compilers my personal favorite is listed at the end of this review. If you use Linux you will most probably already have the gcc compiler installed on your system! C is my favorited programming language. C came before C++ and in my opinion gets less attention these days than it should! I also know some C++ and BASIC(QBASIC, yabasic, and Liberty BASIC)-I don't recomend learning basic these days. I use C and sometimes C++ on both Windows and Linux(Ubuntu) systems and in the past have used Red Hat and Mandrake Linux with C++. This is a great book for learning C if you have little or no programming experience, and even if you have some experience with another programming language. I have never read the "C for Dummies" by the same author, but if you have any trouble following this book the other is supposed to be slower paced and explain things in a more understandable way. The author does an amazing job at balancing hummor and information. I hope this author, the author of the first for Dummies book, publishes some more C books and hopefully a couple books on Intel and AMD assemly. If you know how to use a computer and maybe have programmed a little in C++ or another language this book, "C All-In-One Desk Reference" will probably be easy for you to follow. In my opinion this is a great book and any college student about to take C or anyone interested in learning programming will probably find this book extreamly helpful. A FEW NOTES: (If you are new to C you can skip these two notes and goto the HELP and then the RECOMENDED IDE and COMPILER NOTE BELLOW! 1. fflush and fpurge are not to be used to clear the input stream in the context mentioned in the book. The authors website offers a better solution in his FAQ page. 2. gets is an EXTREAMLY DANGEROUS INSECURE function. It is ok when you are learning C, but for proffessional code it needs to be replaced by a more secure function. The authors website offers a fix for this problem the fgets function. fgets sets a limit on the number of characters it can read in and is thus not dangerous. You can write a simple find and replace algorythm to remove the automatically inserted newline character. HELP! If you type a program exactly as it is written in the book and it wont compile goto the authors website listed in the book and click on errata it could be a typo. There are a few of these typos, but they are all very well documented on the authors website. I went through the errors on the authors page and marked them down in my two coppies of this book. They are not major errors only small typos. RECOMENDED IDE and COMPILER for Windows Vista/Windows 7: My favorited IDE and Compiler for the Windows Vista and Windows 7 platform is Code::Blocks with the included MinGW compiler. I highly recomend this FREE IDE/Compiler bundle. This package works with C and also with C++. For beginners, I believe this package is perfect, after downloading the approximately 70 MB file that includes both CodeBlocks and MinGW you can install it simply like installing any oter applications. TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL CODE::BLOCKS: 1. Go to the Codeblocks website and click downloads, then click binaries, and finally select Windows. 2. There should be two downloads a smaller one and a larger one. The larger one approximately 70 MB is the one that contains the compiler! So if you don't already have a compiler download this package. 3. Install by just following the directions. 4. Then you are readdy to go! ;

Very good book for learning the C programming language. I would, however, suggest that before delving into learning ANY programming language that you develop a foundation in the Logic and Design Principles that are the very essence of coding. Learning a programming language and learning how to code are two separate things. If you are interested in learning to program, but have no prior experience, I would recommend that you first pick up a copy of "Programming Logic and Design, Introductory" by Joyce Farrell. This book introduces, on a basic (but precise and succinct) level, the universal fundamentals of structured programming. It is the book that I used in my CIS-115 class, which was "Introduction to Programming and Logic." Farrell's book does not deal with any specific programming language, although it briefly mentions some. It is well worth it to pickup a copy; even an older copy, which I am sure you can find for a few bucks; the principles will be the same. Never-the-less, I would highly recommend this book for individuals interested in learning the C programming language and about the history of the language in general. I would also recommend that if you are going to program in C that you do so in a Unix/Unix Like environment, such as Mac OS X, FreeBSD, or any respectable Linux distribution such as Ubuntu. Peace be with you, - Jacob

This is an excellent book for beginners or for those just curious about the C language and how it differs from C++ and others. The author takes things step by step which is an excellent platform for beginners. Experienced programmers will probably be bored by this book. He uses easy to follow examples and analogies for different programming concepts such as pointers. Even though C isn't as widely used anymore (except for kernels and drivers)the concepts you learn are easily applied to other programming languages such as C#, Java, and of course C++. Once you read this book you'll have a much easier time transitioning to other languages. My only gripe is that it goes a bit too slow for me.

Do not let the "for dummies" in the title get in the way. This book is excellent. Having a solid knowledge of C (I do embedded programming), I often find it difficult to teach C concepts to other programmers with different backgrounds (Visual Basic, PHP, Scripting Languages, etc). The author does a great job of introducing the C language in this book. His writing style is clear and humorous. It is a much easier text to digest for beginners than other C books I have used. This book will get any newcomer to C up to speed in C programming and prepare the way to more advanced concepts and textbooks. This book is a great value for the price. I own both the paperback copy and the Kindle edition. If you need a refresher or if you are a newcomer to the great C language, this book makes a very nice addition to your collection.

I've tried a couple times to learn C (through various microcontroller classes/on my own) but have always found the books to jump ahead to more advanced topics before solidifying your knowledge of, or even mentioning, the most basic concepts. I'm only on page 220 as I write this review and I'm finding Mr. Gookin's teaching method to be very well-paced and informative. I would recommend this to anyone learning C for the first time or anyone tired of books that jump from variables to loops to creating libraries in less than 100 pages. I am a bit annoyed with some typos I've found in the source code. The two main ones I've found are in the programs CRAPS.C on page 214 and the modified GRID.C on page 219. They are small mistakes that create no bugs but they are simply a hiccup in understanding the specific example. I won't go into detail on the typos but if anyone has noticed these, specifically the char c variable in CRAPS.C, please let me know why it's there... if you know why, that is.

So, I was hoping to use this book to hop from MatLab to C for programming. I was hoping to use this as a launching point, and it almost served this purpose. Almost. It gives some basic syntax for some basic math, and then.... sorta just leaves you hanging. There's no real information about interfacing with basic math programs like excel, or generation of visual data. I was able to find what I need online, and it looks like it'll work out pretty well for me in the end, it just seems a little inappropriate to call this the 'All-in-one' desk reference, when the author basically writes off using C to write programs for what computers are intended for in the first place- to compute. He even jokes about how he can't think of a situation in which one might want a 3-D array. Which is exactly what I need it for.

A+: I am learning and enjoying myself at the same time. This book is written well. I don't know if it is something that I appreciate because I am older but it is laid out in a logical order. Small bites are much better when presented this way. ############################################################################ // Now for the F. Amazon kindle is unkind to the format... and my eyes!!. Here is why: ############################################################################ 1. The "type this in your editor" code used to have a slightly shaded background to distinguish itself from theory and other information. So you knew THIS STUFF IS WHAT DOES IN YOUR EDITOR and the other parts are explaining why. // ----> NOT ANYMORE!! <-------- and its sad. 2. All the fonts are the SAME in my kindle dx. So trying to tell where code begins and ends is more difficult. ** I had to go to google play and buy this book again to have the PDF version. The fonts are much better this way. But in the revised version, the shaded background behind the code is also gone. Maybe I was too hard on Amazon. But the font problem is at least an Amazon thing!!! In summery, I bought this book two times. Once through Amazon and once on google play. It is worth it. I am not angry because I dont mind supporting good people and good work. Just wish the code was easier to read with shaded background behind it.

This is a nice intro to the language and some of the basic aspects of the C library. You're not going to learn any data structures or advanced techniques but you'll get a solid treatment of the basic mechanics of the language and familiarity with the C standard library for dealing with files, doing math, manipulating and calculating times/dates, etc, all in a down-to-earth presentation style with some corny jokes thrown in to keep the mood light. Definitely a nice beginner's book. I had some experience before picking it up but it gave me a nice refresher and taught me a couple tricks. One note: they call it six-books-in-one for some reason but it's really just a big book with six parts/chapters. None of these parts would stand on their own. But whatever, that's just marketing and doesn't detract from the fact that this is a good product. Happy coding!